Tigers spoil what felt like a perfect Josh Naylor day for Guardians fans

Josh Naylor’s fingerprints were all over the Tigers' 9-3 win over the Mariners in Game 4. of the American League Division Series. 

He had three hits and scored two runs. He recorded a fantastic unassisted double play in the field. And he also became the talk of the baseball world when he made it seem like he was blatantly stealing signs from pitcher Tyler Holton in the fourth inning. 

The full Josh Naylor experience was on display in Game 4 of the American League Division Series

The highlight of Naylor’s day came in the fourth inning when he spent all of Mitch Garver’s at-bat doing an interpretive dance at second base behind Holton. While sign stealing happens all the time (and is legal so long as you don’t use any illegal video means to do so), it usually isn’t as blatant as what Naylor was doing. 

And it seemed like it worked. After Garver went down 0-2, Naylor began flailing his arms behind Holton to seemingly signal that offspeed pitches out of the zone were coming. Garver ended up working a walk ahead of a Victor Robles double play that scored Naylor. 

While Naylor finished the year in the 54th percentile in Outs Above Average, he made a great heads up play in the fourth inning when he corralled a one-hopper but deeked Gleyber Torres into thinking he had caught the ball out of the air so he could tag him out before stepping on first base. 

While the Guardians trade of Naylor was a tough look for the organization, he’s still a Cleveland fan favorite who will forever hold a special place in the city's hearts thanks to his inspired play during his five seasons with Cleveland. 

And he likely earned some brownie points from the fanbase with his fifth inning tag of Kerry Carpenter that resulted in a collision between both players. 

In the end, that wasn’t enough for the Mariners to end the Tigers' season. While the Mariners jumped out to an early lead, the Tigers exploded for seven runs across the fifth and sixth innings to pick up a big win to extend their season. 

Now the series will move back to Seattle for a decided Game 5 at T-Mobile Park. While the Mariners will have the advantage of playing at home, the Tigers will be able to send Tarik Skubal to the mound, which is a sentence that should send chills down every Guardians fan’s spine. 

A week ago, the Guardians season ended at home at the hands of a gutsy win from the Tigers. Now they have a chance to dot he same thing to the Mariners on Friday.

That game will give Naylor a chance to earn even more brownie points with the Guardians fanbase by knocking the Tigers out of the postseason.