Josh Naylor smashed a three-run homer, while Bo Naylor knocked in two runs with a double as the Cleveland Guardians, leading in the AL Central, defeated the Texas Rangers 7-4 on Tuesday. This victory added to the Rangers’ struggles, marking their fifth consecutive loss, their longest losing streak of the season.
The Naylor brothers played a pivotal role in the Guardians’ six-run second inning. Josh’s home run, his 12th of the season, with two outs, gave Cleveland a commanding 6-0 lead, leading to the early exit of the Rangers’ top pitching prospect, Jack Leiter.
Adolis García, Corey Seager, and Nathaniel Lowe managed to hit solo home runs for the Rangers, but they couldn’t overcome the Guardians’ strong offensive performance.
Pitcher Ben Lively secured his second win of the season, despite giving up three runs on homers. He managed to strike out five batters and walked three in five innings of work.
The game witnessed a scary moment in the fifth inning when Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio and center fielder Tyler Freeman collided while going for a fly ball, resulting in both players staying down for several minutes before being attended to by the medical staff.
“It was quite an eventful game,” Vogt remarked. “Thankfully, both of them are okay. That’s why we can find humor in it. But it was tough for them to bounce back from that collision.”
Freeman was clearly signaling for the ball hit by García as he charged forward. Despite not hearing his teammate’s call while running with his back to the field, Rocchio collided with him after Freeman made the catch. Both players remained in the game after being examined by three athletic trainers.
“I caught the ball, and then suddenly, I’m on the ground,” Freeman recounted. “It happened so fast. We’re both athletes, so we both went for the ball. Luckily, I held on.”
