TORONTO — By the time Josh Naylor‘s home run flew over the right-field fence at Rogers Centre on Monday night, most of the stadium was quiet … save for the Mariners fans above the visiting dugout and a whole section of Naylor’s friends and family who did not have to travel very far to see Naylor play.
Naylor’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning helped put the finishing touches on the Mariners’ 10-3 rout over the Blue Jays in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. The series swings to Seattle with the Mariners just two wins away from their first World Series appearance in franchise history.
First, though, Naylor made some history of his own on Monday night.
The Mississauga, Ontario, native became the fourth Canadian-born player to homer in Canada in the postseason, joining Russell Martin, Michael Saunders and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. All three of those players were Blue Jays, however, making Naylor the first visiting player to hit a homer in Canada in the playoffs.
“I was very thankful to get some hits, help the team out,” Naylor said. “Super cool to do it in front of my family, too. Very blessed to have them all here, all my friends. It was a really cool moment for them.”
Mississauga is about 16 miles from Rogers Centre in Toronto, and Naylor grew up a Blue Jays fan. He had plenty of family and friends in the stands for the start of this ALCS, including a large contingent that he spent some time with pregame Monday night.
Naylor nearly didn’t get his hometown moment, though. In the first inning, he fouled a ball off his right ankle and hobbled around to shake off the pain. Then he had an uncomfortable at-bat in the third inning, with manager Dan Wilson nearly removing Naylor from the game.
Naylor wasn’t having it.
“I just told him I’d let him know, and that’s really it,” Naylor said. “Yeah, maybe a lot of us are sore, a lot of us are hurt, probably on both sides. But these are important games, and I don’t really want to get taken out if I can still stand.”
Both at-bats ended in singles, as Naylor shook off an 0-for-4 in Game 1 to go 3-for-4 in Game 2.
“Nayls is as tough as they come, and he doesn’t want to come out,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of making sure he’s OK and good enough to play, and he was, and he was saying, ‘I’m not coming out.’
“He’s as tough as they come, literally, and for him to stick it out like he did tonight was phenomenal. And then later on to be able to get a pitch he was able to handle and drive it out of the ballpark is just a testament to how strong he is and how much he wants to win.”
Naylor has been the gritty competitor the Mariners have needed this October — and a huge boon for the Mariners since being acquired from Arizona ahead of the Trade Deadline. Behind the scenes, front-office officials have said that re-signing the impending free agent this winter will be a priority, and it’s not hard to see why, with Naylor hitting .290 with two stolen bases and now the home run this postseason.
As Naylor leaves his home country, he’s just as excited to get back in front of Mariners fans on Wednesday for Game 3, knowing that they need just two more wins to advance.
“Just full of energy, full of just an awesome fan base who loves baseball, loves to watch their hometown team win, and I think we really feed off that as a group,” Naylor said. “I sure do. And I 100% can say everyone else does. … I’ve gotten so many compliments from friends who have watched me play or ex-teammates I’ve played with or even just opponents who I’m playing against, like, how awesome it is in Seattle and how cool the fan base is and how they just ride-or-die Seattle, and it’s super awesome to be a part of.”
