Guardians' David Fry becomes first true position player to pitch 4 innings since 1988 in blowout loss to Twins

Things did not go well for the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night, but David Fry still made history at Progressive Field.

The catcher and utility man threw four innings in the Guardians' blowout 20-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday, which made him the first true position player to pitch four innings in a game since 1988. Jose Oquendo was the last position player to pitch more than three innings that season for the St. Louis Cardinals, though he took the mound in a marathon 19-inning game, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Fry allowed seven runs and 10 hits during his stint on the mound. All 64 of his pitches were slower than 60 miles per hour, which set another Major League Baseball record. No pitcher in the pitch tracking era had ever thrown more than 30 such pitches in a single game.

The Twins rocked Guardians starter Lucas Giolito, who lasted just three innings on the mound before he was pulled. Jorge Polanco hit a solo home run in the first to get Minnesota on the board, and then Royce Lewis hit a grand slam in the second — which suddenly put the Twins up 6-8. They added three more runs in the third before Giolito was pulled, too. By then, the game was well out of reach for Minnesota.

Giolito now holds a 7-12 record and has a 4.88 ERA this season. He allowed seven hits and had three strikeouts in his 76 pitches on Monday night.

Fry, a 27-year-old rookie, is hitting .250 and has four home runs and 13 RBI this season in Cleveland. He’s played catcher, first base, third base and in the outfield this season.

"I told him I didn't like leaving him out there as long as I did, but I just didn't know how we were going to get through the game," Guardians manager Terry Francona said, via Bally Sports. "One of my fears was we were going to score a couple, and it's under eight, and we can't finish the game without hurting somebody … I don't care who you are, nobody wants to go out and get their brains beat out.

"But he's strong enough mentally to just not overdo it, and he won't hurt himself. And now, hopefully, we have a chance to win tomorrow, and if we do, he sucked up a bunch of innings for us."

Minnesota starter Pablo López pitched for six innings in the win. He had three strikeouts and allowed just a single run. The Twins added four runs in the sixth inning, and then picked up five in the seventh off of Joey Gallo and Kyle Farmer home runs.

The Twins, who have now won seven of their last 11 games, hold a six game lead in the AL Central over the Guardians. Cleveland sits 10.5 games back from the last American League wild card spot, too. The Guardians have two more games against the Twins this series before they head to Los Angeles this weekend for a four-game run against the Angels.