For Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor, it was home, sweet, home on Monday during Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. He became the first Canadian-born player to homer as a visitor against a Canadian team. He was the enemy as far as most Blue Jays fans were concerned,  but the hometown legend also had plenty of support. 

 

Josh Naylor Goes Crazy In Game 2 ALCS

 

Naylor had a game to remember at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, which is 30 miles from his hometown of Mississauga, Ontario. He went 3-for-4, including a Bro Bomb, in a 10-3 victory over the Blue Jays. Seattle has a 2-0 lead in the series and are two wins away from going to its first World Series in its 48-year history.   

One can imagine the feeling Naylor had of performing well in front of friends and family.   

 

“I was very thankful to get some hits, help the team out,” Naylor said after the game. “Super cool to do it in front of my family, too. Very blessed to have them all here, all my friends, and it was a really cool moment for them.”

Tough As Nayls

The Mariners thought Naylor might not last the entire game. In the first inning, he fouled off a ball off his right ankle and was in serious pain. Manager Dan Wilson checked on him to make sure he was OK. Not only was Naylor OK, he singled to center field a few minutes later before stealing a base.

“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.’”

It’s a good thing Naylor didn’t come out of the game because he saved his biggest hit for the seventh inning when he hit a two-run homer off right-hander Braydon Fisher to make it a 9-3 game in favor of Seattle. Naylor became the first Canadian-born player to homer in the postseason as a visiting player in Canada. Naylor is also the fourth Canadian-born player to homer in Canada during the playoffs, joining Blue Jays players Russell Martin, Michael Saunders and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

As he was rounding the bases, Naylor wasn’t thinking about playing in his native country. 

“I just wanted to, honestly, get a hit,” he said. “I try to work [a] good at-bat. I think I got it to like 3-2 [and] tried to see a pitch elevated. … Honestly, just do what Polo [teammate Jorge Polanco] did and get on base.”