cleveland guardians

Cleveland Guardians designated hitter David Fry was hit in the face by a 99-mph fastball thrown Tuesday by Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal at Ohio’s Progressive Field.

During a sixth-inning at-bat, Fry was attempting to bunt when the ball missed the bat completely and hit him in the nose and mouth area. He fell to the ground and remained there for several minutes while being treated by medical staff.

Fry eventually was able to walk to a cart under his own power. The 2024 American League All-Star gave a thumbs-up signal as he was being driven off the field. The Guardians later said Fry was undergoing tests and observation, possibly overnight, at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus.

“He’s getting tested,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told reporters after the game. “He stayed conscious the whole time. Definitely some injuries there, so I’ll give you an update tomorrow on David.”

Vogt added: “We’re all thinking about Dave and his family right now. Obviously, we’re glad he’s OK, but obviously it’s really a scary moment. So [we’re] thinking about him.”

As the incident took place, Skubal reacted in horror from the mound, immediately dropping his glove, removing his cap and covering his face with his hand. The 2024 American League Cy Young Award winner later told reporters it was “really tough” to see Fry like that.

“I’ve already reached out to him. I’m sure his phone is blowing up. I just want to make sure he’s all right,” Skubal said. “Obviously, he seemed like he was OK coming off the field and hopefully it stays that way.

“I know sometimes with those things that can change. So hopefully he’s all right. I look forward to hopefully at some point tonight or [Wednesday] morning getting a text from him and making sure he’s all good because there’s things that are bigger than the game and the health of him is more important than a baseball game.”

Cleveland won the game 5-2 to pull to a tie with Detroit at the top of the AL Central Division after trailing by as many as 15½ games this summer.

All-Star voting resumes Monday at 9 a.m. PDT for 48 hours with the Dodgers entertaining the possibility of fielding an unprecedented eight position players.

The top two vote-getters at each position through Phase 1 of voting are finalists and moved on to Phase 2, which ends Wednesday at 9 a.m. PDT. The defending World Series champion Dodgers boast a finalist at each infield position and two among six outfielders.

Even though only three Dodgers led National League Phase 1 voting at their position, all eight have an equal chance of starting because votes don’t carry over to Phase 2. The player at each position to accumulate the most votes in the two-day window will start the July 15 game at Truist Park in Atlanta.

“Very proud. It’s great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously we’re playing well. As it stands now, we’re the best team in the National League, so we should have the most All-Star voting for the team.”

Shohei Ohtani locked in an automatic spot as starting designated hitter because he led all National League players with 3,967,668 votes in Phase 1. Catcher Will Smith and first baseman Freddie Freeman are the other Dodgers to lead voting, while second baseman Tommy Edman, shortstop Mookie Betts and third baseman Max Muncy finished second. Among outfielders, Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages finished second and fifth, respectively.

In American League voting, the Angels’ Mike Trout is one of four finalists to secure one of two openings in the outfield. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees already earned a starting spot by leading all players with 4,012,983 votes in Phase 1.

Trout, who has 13 home runs in 56 games, is competing against Riley Green and Javier Báez of the Detroit Tigers and Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians.

Voting can be done online at MLB.com/vote, all 30 team websites, the MLB app and the MLB ballpark app. The winners will be announced on ESPN at 1 p.m.

The most position players voted to start an All-Star Game from a single team is five — accomplished by the 1976 Cincinnati Reds ,the 1956 and 1957 Cincinnati Redlegs and the 1939 New York Yankees.

“I hope we get five, six, seven Dodgers,” Roberts said. “That’d be great.”

MLB All-Star finalists

AL guaranteed spot: Aaron Judge, OF, Yankees — 4,012,983 votes
NL guaranteed spot: Shohei Ohtani, DH, Dodgers — 3,967,668 votes

National League finalists
Catcher: Will Smith (Dodgers), Carson Kelly (Cubs)
First base: Freddie Freeman (Dodgers), Pete Alonso (Mets)
Second base: Ketel Marte (Diamondbacks), Tommy Edman (Dodgers)
Shortstop: Francisco Lindor (Mets), Mookie Betts (Dodgers)
Third base: Manny Machado (Padres), Max Muncy (Dodgers)
Outfield: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs), Teoscar Hernández (Dodgers), Ronald Acuña Jr. (Braves), Kyle Tucker (Cubs), Andy Pages (Dodgers), Juan Soto (Mets)

American League finalists
Catcher: Cal Raleigh (Mariners), Alejandro Kirk (Blue Jays)
First base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Paul Goldschmidt (Yankees)
Second base: Gleyber Torres (Tigers), Jackson Holliday (Orioles)
Shortstop: Jacob Wilson (Athletics), Bobby Witt Jr., (Royals)
Third base: José Ramírez (Guardians), Alex Bregman (Red Sox)
Outfield: Riley Greene (Tigers), Javier Báez (Tigers), Mike Trout (Angels), Steven Kwan (Guardians)

CLEVELAND — José Soriano threw six scoreless innings, Mike Trout had a hit in his return to the Angels’ lineup in a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.

Jo Adell had three hits and an RBI and Jorge Soler hit a solo homer down the left-field line in the ninth inning as the Angels snapped a five-game losing streak.

Cleveland’s José Ramírez had his 21-game hitting streak snapped. He drew a walk in the eighth inning to extend his on-base streak to 26 games.

The Guardians, who have dropped four of their last five, avoided a shutout on Nolan Jones’ RBI single to right with two outs in the ninth.

It was the third time this season Soriano (4-5) has gone at least six innings and not given up a run. The right-hander yielded just four hits with two strikeouts and four walks.

Trout, activated off the injured list after he missed 26 games due to a bone bruise on his left knee, lined out to Ramírez at third in his first at-bat before he lined a base hit to left-center in the fourth inning.

Adell singled to right with one out in the second to drive in Soler, who drew a walk off Luis Ortiz (2-6) to lead off the inning.

The Angels added a pair of runs in the seventh when Scott Kingery scored on a passed ball and Soler had a run-scoring single to center.

Key moment: The Guardians had the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth inning, but Soriano got Gabriel Arias to chase a 98-mph sinker for the strikeout.

Key stat: Trout went one for five and batted fifth as the designated hitter. It was the first time since Sept. 26, 2011, the three-time American League MVP started a game hitting lower than third.

Up next: RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-6, 5.23 ERA) goes for the Angels while RHP Slade Cecconi (1-1, 3.27 ERA) takes the mound for the Guardians.