Austin Hedges and David Fry playfully criticized each other's hygiene as they sat in the interview room across the hall from the Guardians’ clubhouse. There was no clear winner in their verbal jousting about how sweaty they each were, but there was on the field -- largely thanks to their power display Wednesday. Fry belted a three-run homer off MacKenzie Gore in the second inning and Hedges hit a two-run shot against Winston Santos in the eighth, lifting Cleveland to a 9-4 victory over the Rangers. The win prevented Texas from completing its first series sweep at Progressive Field since June 2-5, 2011, and allowed the Guardians to start July on a positive note following a challenging month of June. “Austin stinks,” Fry said, pointing to Hedges. “Your chair is so much sweatier than mine.” Their laughter was a much-needed release after two losses to the Rangers, including a 4-2 decision Tuesday that featured rookie Cooper Ingle throwing the ball into the stands with two outs in the seventh, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Ingle’s mental and physical error put the finishing touches on Cleveland’s first losing month of the season at 10-15, which also saw seven-time All-Star third baseman José Ramírez fracture his left hamate bone on June 13. “When you have a bad month, you’re like, ‘Hey, it’s July 1st,’ but when you have a good month, you’re like, ‘Hey, it’s still June,’” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “I definitely think we’re happy it’s July 1st, because that was a tough month.” Vogt placed Fry in the leadoff spot for the second time this season and gave him his ninth start in left field, hoping to give the team a jolt. It paid off early as his 380-foot home run to right-center came during the five-run second.
