CLEVELAND — Off the bat, it looked like a potential storybook moment for Josh Naylor in his return to Cleveland.
His old teammate and buddy, Steven Kwan, had other plans.
Kwan robbed Naylor of a sure-fire game-tying hit on Saturday, in the Guardians’ 4-3 win over the Mariners at Progressive Field, when he made a full-extension diving catch in the left-center-field gap to end the sixth inning.
Had Naylor’s drive gotten by Kwan, Julio Rodríguez almost assuredly would have scored from first base. The catch loomed large, as did Kwan’s RBI single in the seventh inning. Rodríguez hit a two-run homer in the eighth that cut Cleveland’s three-run lead to one.
Kwan recorded a 29.1 mph sprint speed on the catch, which is tied for his fastest this season.
Cleveland (68-66) pulled to three games behind Seattle (72-64) with Saturday’s win, and more importantly, they are two games behind in the loss column. The Guardians have a chance at a sweep on Sunday.
