Talk about absolute cinema from the first baseman.
By just looking at the final scoreboard, you'd think that the Seattle Mariners routed the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night at Target Field.
But the 7-1 win is deceiving, to a degree. The Mariners were down 1-0 in the sixth inning before tying the game and then didn't take the lead until two outs in the seventh.
The big blow came in the eighth, when first baseman Josh Naylor hit a mammoth three-run homer to right field to give Seattle a 5-1 lead.
They added on two more runs in the ninth to reach the eventual final and pull within one game of .500 at 15-16.
Given how poorly the Mariners played through the first three weeks of the season, if Seattle could end the month of April at 16-16, that would seem like a minor miracle.
They'll need to win against the Twins on Wednesday to hit that point, and then they have an off day on Thursday.
Naylor's bat flip was incredible
Naylor's home run provided some much needed breathing room for Seattle, and came with the requisite drama and sigh of relief provided by a late-inning blast.
The 28-year-old Naylor, who signed a five-year deal in the offseason, got off to a slow start, but has raised his average to .220. He now has four home runs, 15 RBIs and four stolen bases, and he, Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh are starting to look like the middle of the order that the M's expected heading into the season.
An eight-year veteran of the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, Arizona Diamondbacks and Mariners, Naylor is a career .267 hitter who has three separate 20-homer seasons on his resume.
He was an integral part of getting the Mariners to the American League Championship Series in 2025 and will be a driving force behind a (hopeful) return trip in 2026.
Up next for the M's
The Mariners and Twins will close out their three-game series in the rubber match on Wednesday morning. First pitch is set for 10:40 p.m. PT. George Kirby will take the mound against right-hander Taj Bradley, who is coming off a solid start against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Mariners will fly back to Seattle and have an off day on Thursday before opening up a weekend series with the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
It will be a big weekend, as the Mariners will retire Randy Johnson's No. 51 on Saturday night.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!