Even in an unremarkable July game, baseball can produce some history.
And so it did on Friday night, when Bo and Josh Naylor gave some weight to Cleveland’s 12-4 loss to the Rangers by becoming the first pair of brothers in MLB history to hit multi-run homers in the same inning for the same team — each whacking two-run bombs in the third.
“It’s something super special,” Bo told reporters. “I think it was something that we joked about in the past. Kinda seeing it come to pass is pretty wild to think about.”
Bo’s home run came first, as he took a changeup from Jon Gray 435 feet to right field.
Four batters later, Josh took advantage of a slider, hitting it barely into fair territory also in right field.
“When I hit mine, me and him shared a great moment, you could see how excited he was for me,” Bo said. “And when he hit his, I was up on the top step waiting for him. It was just a cool moment to share with him.”
Granted, the celebration was blunted by nature of the loss in which the Naylors produced the only RBIs of the night for the Guardians.
Otherwise, Gray held them scoreless, and they could not keep the likes of Jonah Heim, Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia quiet after taking a 4-0 lead.
The loss knocked Cleveland down to .500 — still somehow good enough to lead the AL Central for the time being, but one step closer to being trade deadline sellers. Former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber could be one of the pieces on the move if Mike Chernoff decides to make him available.
“We had two big hits: The Naylor brothers,” manager Terry Francona told reporters. “But other than that, it was kind of a quiet night for us.”
Josh has hit .306 with an .840 OPS through Cleveland’s first 80 games in 2023, while Bo, a 23-year-old catcher, has hit .216 through his first 16 MLB games this year.
