There’s a flair for the dramatic, and then there’s what Tyler Naquin and the Cleveland Indians did Friday night.
The Indians trailed the Toronto Blue Jays by a run entering the ninth inning at Progressive Field when Jose Ramirez came up clutch, hitting a solo home run off Jays closer Roberto Osuna to tie the score.
But Ramirez’s heroics were just a precursor to what Naquin did next.
[mlbvideo id=”1070372483″ width=”640″ height=”358″ /]
Naquin hit a drive deep to right field that went over the head of Jays outfielder Michael Saunders, and the speedy Indians outfielder took off, sprinting all the way home for an improbable walk-off, inside-the-park home run.
How Cleveland pulled off its 3-2 win over Toronto never had been done in Major League Baseball history before Friday.
.@Indians are 1st team in MLB history to have a game-tying HR and a walk-off inside-the-park HR in same inning (via @eliassports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 20, 2016
Naquin’s hit alone was pretty rare in itself.
Tyler Naquin: 2nd player in @Indians history to hit a walk-off inside-the-park HR. Other is Braggo Roth in 1916!
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 20, 2016
Naquin’s incredible walk-off pushed the Indians to 70 wins on the season and gave them a seven-game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central.
It also did the Red Sox a favor, as Boston moved to within just half a game of the Blue Jays in the AL East after it beat the Detroit Tigers 10-2 earlier in the day.
More inside-the-park, walk-off homers please, Cleveland.
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
