The Cleveland Guardians remain in the 2025 Major League Baseball postseason, and one key reason was because Bo Naylor of Mississauga, Ontario hit his first postseason home run. Naylor was in fact one of three Canadians who contributed to the Guardians in their elimination game– a 6-1 Cleveland win over the Detroit Tigers which tied the American League Wildcard Series at one game apiece. This was the second game of the best of the three series.
Naylor’s home run went to right field and scored outfielder Daniel Schneemann and Jose Ramirez. The home run closed out the scoring and put the Guardians up 6-1 with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning. The length of the home run was not disclosed. Normally ESPN reports the length of all home runs on their website, but it is not shown in their box score.
The other two Canadians who made a Wednesday difference were closer Cade Smith of Vancouver, British Columbia and relief pitcher Erik Sabrowski of Edmonton, Alberta. Smith actually got his second postseason win. The first came in a 7-0 Guardians win over the Tigers in the first game of the 2024 American League Divisional Series. On Wednesday, Smith pitched an inning and a third of relief, and had two strikeouts. Sabrowski also threw an inning of relief and had one strikeout. Game three of the series is Thursday in Cleveland.