Brothers in MLB hit home runs during the same inning

There are 448 families whose brothers played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Seven of them hit home runs during the same inning as the players of the same team. However, the Naylors were the first to set such a record on Siblings Day on April 10. Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians hit homers in the bottom of the fourth inning, leading their team to beat the Chicago White Sox with a score of 7-6.

The older brother Josh, the team's backup hitter, first hit a home run. It was a solo hit in the bottom of the fourth inning with one out and no runners on base. Then, Bo, the seventh hitter of the team, hit a two-run homer with two outs and one runner at first base, beginning the team’s chase to catch up with its opponent with a score of 3-5. The pitcher of the White Sox against the brothers was Erick Fedde, the MVP of the KBO League last year.

This was not the first time the Naylors had made history together. Back in 2013, when they were playing against Jon Gray, they hit home runs in the same inning. “Gray is not the first pitcher to experience this from us. We frequently hit back-to-back home runs against our dad in our backyard when we were young,” Josh reminisced with a smile. The Naylors are now the third set of brothers to achieve this feat twice in the history of MLB.

The brothers, who were born and raised in Canada, brought honor to their family again during the tie-breaker at the bottom of the 10th, with the Cleveland Guardians behind with a score of 5-6. Josh, who stepped up to the plate with one out and two runners on base, hit a two-base hit, bringing the score to 6-6. It was followed by Bo’s successful hit with two outs and runners on first and second, which brought Josh’s pinch runner, Tyler Freeman, to home and finished the game.


Kyu-In Hwang kini@donga.com