Fry's 2-run homer, squeeze bunt lead Guardians over Tigers 5-4 and force ALDS Game 5

DETROIT (AP) — Pinch-hitter David Fry had a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning, then bunted home an insurance run in the ninth to help the Cleveland Guardians force a decisive Game 5 against the Detroit Tigers in their AL Division Series with a 5-4 victory on Thursday night.

“David Fry is one of the best baseball players in this league,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

Cleveland ended a streak of 11 losses in postseason elimination games dating to Game 6 of 1997 World Series after Emmanuel Clase retired got five outs for his third multi-inning save of the year.

“It’s win or go home,” Vogt said. “You want your best pitchers out there as long as possible.”

AL Cy Young Award favorite Tarik Skubal will start Game 5 for the Tigers on Saturday night in Cleveland.

“It’s always comforting to have Tarik Skubal on the mound,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said.

The winner advances to the AL Championship Series against the Yankees in New York starting Monday.

“We’re still one win away,” Detroit first baseman Spencer Torkeslon said. "That’s the mindset. We don’t want it easy. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Fry said the Guardians’ resilience was no surprise.

“We’ve shown that all year long, that’s who these guys are,” he said. “We have a bunch of tough dudes. We get down 2-1 and we’re in the locker room like it’s just another day. We show up ready to play to try and get a win. And let’s go win Game 5.”

On the verge of reaching the ALCS for the first time since 2013, the Tigers overcame a 2-1 deficit when Zach McKinstry homered in the fifth off Tanner Bibee and Wenceel Pérez hit a run-scoring single in the sixth.

Steven Kwan singled off Sean Guenther with two outs in the seventh.

Beau Brieske had pitched scoreless ball for 5 1/3 innings over four postseason appearances before Fry, batting for Kyle Manzardo, drove a fastball off an advertising sign between the two bullpens in left for the second pinch-homer in Cleveland postseason history after Hank Majeski in Game 4 of the 1954 World Series.

Fry hit the fourth go-ahead pinch home run in postseason history when trailing in seventh inning or later after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series, Toronto’s Ed Sprague in the 1992 World Series and Atlanta’s Eric Hinske in the 2010 NL Division Series

That quieted 44,923 fans who set a playoff attendance record for the second straight day at 25-year-old Comerica Park.

“Such a great baseball game,” Vogt said.

Clase preserved a 4-3 lead in the eighth when he escaped a second-and-third jam by striking out Trey Sweeney on a 100.9 mph cutter as the batter’s helmet came off.

Brayan Rocchio and Kwan hit one-out singles in the ninth and Fry bunted back to reliever Will Vest. Rocchio slid home headfirst to beat Vest's backhand flip, boosting the lead to 5-3.

That proved to be important.

Pinch-hitter Justyn-Henry Malloy doubled leading off the ninth, advanced on Parker Meadows’ groundout and scored on Jace Jung’s groundout.

Clase, who gave up Kerry Carpenter’s three-run homer in the ninth inning of the 3-0 loss in Game 2, struck out Matt Vierling, who couldn’t check his swing on a low and outside cutter.

“I was really excited to get to the mound, especially getting the trust back from the manager to get me in that role and that responsibility,” Clase said through an interpreter.

Lane Thomas ended the Guardians’ 20-inning scoreless streak with a two-out RBI single in the first off Reese Olson, who did not allow a run in the first inning of 22 regular-season starts

Sweeney hit a sacrifice fly in the second and José Ramírez put Cleveland ahead with a fifth-inning homere off Tyler Holton, ending an 0-for-10 skid.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Carpenter injured his left hamstring when he scored in the sixth and was pinch hit for in the seventh.

“It’s concerning, but I’m going to hold off any thoughts until the doctors give me an update and he gets imaging and all the things that we need to do prior to Saturday,” Hinch said.

UP NEXT

LHP Matthew Boyd may start Game 5 for the Guardians, whose last Game 5 was a loss to the Yankees in the 2022 ALCS. Vogt said the team will make that decision Friday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio, right, scores in front of Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers, left, on a bunt by David Fry in the eighth inning of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio, right, scores in front of Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers, left, on a bunt by David Fry in the eighth inning of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians' Steven Kwan (38) celebrates with teammate Will Brennan, right, at the end of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. The Guardians won 5-4. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians' Steven Kwan (38) celebrates with teammate Will Brennan, right, at the end of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. The Guardians won 5-4. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges, left, celebrates with pitcher Emmanuel Clase at the end of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. The Guardians won 5-4. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Cleveland Guardians' Will Brennan, left, and Josh Naylor celebrate at the end of Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. The Guardians won 5-4. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Hunter Gaddis throws against the Detroit Tigers in the seventh inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians right fielder Will Brennan makes a sliding attempt at a double by Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows in the first inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Cleveland Guardians' Lane Thomas hits an RBI single to score teammate Steven Kwan in the first inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Tigers pitcher Reese Olson throws against the Cleveland Guardians in the first inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee throws against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Detroit Tigers' Trey Sweeney hits an RBI sacrifice fly in the second inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez reacts after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez hits a solo home run in the fifth inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians' David Fry bunts in the ninth inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Cleveland Guardians' David Fry celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Cleveland Guardians' David Fry hits a two-run home run in the seventh inning during Game 4 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans reacted with joy and astonishment on Thursday after learning that homegrown writer Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in literature, an unexpected moment that stoked national pride about the country’s growing cultural influence.

Han, known for her experimental and often disturbing stories that explore human traumas and violence and incorporate the brutal moments of South Korea’s modern history, is the country’s first writer to win the preeminent award in world literature.

Han's triumph adds to the growing global influence of South Korean culture, which in recent years included the successes of director Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning “Parasite,” the brutal Netflix survival drama “Squid Game” and K-pop groups like BTS and BLACKPINK.

“I’m so surprised and honored,” Han, 53, said in a telephone interview posted on the X account of the Nobel Prize.

As the news spread in South Korea, some online bookstores temporarily froze following a sudden jump in traffic. South Korean social media were flooded with jubilant messages expressing admiration and pride. Some internet users found it meaningful that Han was the first Asian woman to win the award and portrayed it as a statement toward the country’s traditionally male-dominated literature scene.

“It’s always the women who do the big things,” one Facebook user wrote.

In South Korea’s parliament, multiple government hearings were paused as lawmakers cheered and applauded Han’s award.

While visiting Laos for a meeting of Asian leaders, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement, congratulating Han on her award, calling it a “great achievement in the history of Korean literature” and a “special moment for the nation.”

“You converted the painful wounds of our modern history into great literature,” Yoon wrote. “I send my respects to you for elevating the value of Korean literature.”

Han, the daughter of renowned South Korean novelist Han Seung-won, made her publishing debut as a poet in 1993. She won the International Booker Prize in 2016 for the novel “The Vegetarian,” a story in which a woman’s decision to stop eating meat brings devastating consequences and raises concern among family members that she’s mentally ill. The book sold more than 100,000 in the U.S.

Another one of Han's well-known novels is “Human Acts,” which is set in 1980 in her birth city of Gwangju and follows a boy searching for the body of a friend who was killed in a violent suppression of a student protest. South Korea’s former military government that year sent troops to Gwangju for a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that left around 200 people dead and hundreds of others injured.

“The decision came all too sudden. I could also describe it as a feeling of bewilderment,” Han Seung-won, Han’s father, told reporters Friday about the moment he heard the news that his daughter had won the Nobel Prize.

He praised his daughter's writing, which he described as poetic and exhibiting unique “fantastical realism," and also commended British translator Deborah Smith, who translated “The Vegetarian” and “The White Book."

“The translator has somehow managed to convey Han Kang’s sentences, bringing to life the delicate and beautiful prose and melancholic sensibility," he said.

Han Kang’s award generated excitement among South Korean writers and critics, who in comments to local media expressed hope that it would bring more global attention to South Korean literature. But it remains to be seen whether Han’s stories would become widely popular among casual readers around the world, said Brother Anthony of Taize, a British-born scholar and prolific translator of Korean literature.

“It’s not always an easy read,” he said, describing how her novels are often complicated stories about communication failures, misunderstandings, “unhappy people and troubled relationships and pain.”

If Han's works have anything in common with South Korea's other cultural products that garnered international acclaim in recent years, it is that they often reflect the dark side of the country’s society. Both Parasite and Squid Game provided biting commentaries on the country’s deepening inequality and other problems that have many young and poor people describing their lives as a hellish nightmare.

South Korea has one of the largest gaps between rich and poor among developed economies and is grappling with decaying job markets, soaring household debt and a record-low birth rate as struggling couples put off having babies. The country also struggles to deal with the pains of its brutal transition from dictatorship to democracy.

“Korean society is rather dark and it’s probably the aspect that resonates,” Brother Anthony said.

Jung Yoon-young, a 49-year-old resident in Seoul, said Han’s triumph was a refreshing moment for the country during depressing times.

“It’s a miraculous event and really a breath of fresh air,” she said. “I’m grateful and proud.”

South Korean author Han Kang poses for the media during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korean author Han Kang poses for the media during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korean author Han Kang speaks to the media during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, on May 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A book store employee holds a book by the South Korean writer Han Kang in London, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A TV screen shows a file image of the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean writer Han Kang, during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean writer Han Kang, during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean writer Han Kang, during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean author Han Kang's books are displayed at a special section at a bookstore in Goyang, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. The letters read "Han Kang, Awarded the Nobel Prize in literature." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Workers display South Korean author Han Kang's books at a special section at a bookstore in Goyang, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. The letters read "Han Kang, Awarded the Nobel Prize in literature." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A woman holds a South Korean author Han Kang's book at a bookstore in Goyang, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

FILE - South Korean author Han Kang poses for the media during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Kang has won the Nobel Prize for Literature. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

A book store employee handles books by the South Korean writer Han Kang in London, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

77-year-old South Korean Kim Hyung-duk poses after buying South Korean author Han Kang's books at a bookstore in Goyang, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korean Kim Hyung-duk, 77-year-old, holds books by the South Korean writer Han Kang after buying them at a bookstore in Goyang, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV screen shows an image of the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean writer Han Kang, during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows an image of the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean writer Han Kang, during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows an image of the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, South Korean writer Han Kang, during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)