Canadian slugger Josh Naylor helps Mariners put Blue Jays in big ALCS hole with home run back home

TORONTO (AP) — It was a tough start to the American League Championship Series for the Toronto Blue Jays. Canada’s team headed west for Game 3 in Seattle, facing a daunting 2-0 deficit in the best-of-seven playoff.

Part of the reason for Toronto’s big hole? A big Game 2 performance by a Canadian slugger, Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor. 

Born and raised in Mississauga, Ont., the city immediately west of Toronto, Naylor went 3 for 4 with a two-run homer in Monday’s 10-3 victory, putting the Mariners two wins from their first World Series appearance.

Naylor is the eldest of three baseball-playing brothers all drafted in the first round. Middle brother Bo is a catcher for the Cleveland Guardians, while little brother Myles is a minor league infielder in the Athletics organization.

Naylor’s 359-foot drive in the seventh inning Monday made him the first Canadian-born player to hit a postseason home run against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

Naylor called it a “little kid moment” to hit a meaningful October homer in the stadium he once visited as a fan of the home team.

“As kids, me and my friends and teammates growing up, we all looked up to a lot of Blue Jays players, specifically,” he said.

Naylor is the fourth Canadian-born player to hit a home run in their home country during the playoffs. Russell Martin and Michael Saunders both did it for the Blue Jays in 2016, and Montreal-born Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joined the club earlier this month in Toronto’s Division Series win over the New York Yankees.

“Super cool to do it in front of my family, too,” Naylor said. “Very blessed to have them all here, all my friends, and it was a really cool moment for them.”

Still, while Naylor’s family was no doubt delighted, the result was tougher not just for millions of Canadian fans, but also a bunch of Blue Jays players who were once Naylor’s teammates.

In the four-plus seasons he spent in Cleveland, Naylor took the field alongside infielders Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez, outfielder Myles Straw, and pitchers Nick Sandlin and Shane Bieber. All but the injured Sandlin are on Toronto’s ALCS roster.

“We were all super, super close when we were there, and those memories last forever, those friendships last forever,” Naylor said after Game 2. “They’ll go down as some of my favourite teammates I’ve ever had.”

Before the ALCS began, Straw said he considers Naylor a favourite, too.

“I love Nayls forever,” Straw said Saturday. “He was one of the best teammates I played with, for sure. Talked to him in the offseason all the time. Actually went to his baby shower throughout the season here while we were in Toronto. That was pretty cool to be a part of that. I’m always a Naylor fan but obviously, this series it’s a little different.”

Naylor demonstrated the depth of his relationship with Straw during his previous visit to Toronto in June, when he was still with the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

In the fifth inning of the middle game of the series, Straw slammed into the center-field wall while trying to catch Naylor’s RBI double and went down with a sprained right ankle.

Standing at second base, Naylor put his hands on his head when he saw Straw on the ground, then walked all the way out to the fence to check on his pal.

“I definitely see where he was coming from, but at that time I was like, ‘Man, please get out of here,’” Straw said. “He’s just looking out for my best interest. I would never do that for him. If he was out there, I would never walk out, that’s for sure. But I thank him for that. He’s a really good friend.”

Straw said he’s been watching plenty of playoff baseball this October and keeps seeing Naylor come up with key hits.

“He’s got the power, but he’s kind of a pest at the same time,” Straw said. “He’s just a complete hitter, and I’ve seen him ruin a lot of guys throughout the years.”

Unfortunately for Straw and the Blue Jays, their current October run might just be the next thing Naylor ruins.

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