Detroit — Josh Naylor continues to pester the Tigers.
He did it when he wore a Cleveland Guardians uniform and he’s done it the last two seasons with the Seattle Mariners.
His tactics aren’t necessarily illegal — like sending fake signals to his hitter when he’s on second base — nor are they especially kosher.
He was front and center Saturday, helping the Mariners even the series and snap the Tigers’ four-game winning streak, 4-0, at Comerica Park.
BOX SCORE: Mariners 4, Tigers 0
He and Julio Rodriguez kept the third inning alive with two-out singles against Tigers starter Keider Montero. Randy Arozarena followed with a double. Rodriguez scored easily from second. Naylor looked like he might get thrown out the plate.
Right-fielder Wenceel Perez and second baseman Gleyber Torres executed a smooth relay and the throw to catcher Dillon Dingler arrived at the plate at the same time as Naylor.
Naylor, though, was carrying his sliding glove in his right hand and just as he started his head-first slide, he threw the glove into Dingler as he was trying to catch the throw and apply the tag.
Naylor was called safe and it was upheld after video review.
Had the glove actually caused Dingler to miss the ball, interference could’ve been called. But Dingler wasn’t visibly impacted by it.
Not illegal, not classy.
Same thing on Friday night when Naylor collided with rookie Kevin McGonigle at first base. Naylor easily could’ve flipped the ball to pitcher Bryan Woo, who was at the bag in plenty of time.
Instead, he opted to run to the bag himself, taking an angle that put him directly in McGonigle’s path.
“Naylor was the bigger vehicle coming into first base,” manager AJ Hinch said Friday night. “He took an angle betting on winning the collision.”
Again, not illegal, not classy.
When Naylor came to bat again in the top of the fifth inning Saturday, Montero drilled him on the shoulder with a 96-mph sinker. Naylor took it well, like he understood that was the price to pay.
He even laughed as he looked back at Montero and tapped Dingler on the shoulder before going to first base.
But on a 6-4-3 double-play ball, he slid hard into second base.
Like or hate it, Naylor adds an old-school flavor not seen much these days.
The Tigers, after scoring 32 runs the previous four games and carrying an MLB-best 1.038 OPS in June, could not solve Mariners’ hard-throwing right-hander Bryce Miller. Or the three relievers who followed.
Making just his fifth appearance and fourth start after dealing with an oblique injury, he blanked the Tigers on one hit for six innings, striking out nine.
His fastball was sitting at 97 mph in the early innings, dropping to an average of 96 by the end. But he had precise command of it and paired it nicely with a hard splitter. He induced 16 whiffs (nine with the fastball) on 55 swings.
The lone hit was a leadoff triple by Colt Keith in the third and Miller stranded him. The only other time the Tigers threatened was the fourth. McGonigle walked and with one out, Kerry Carpenter worked a 12-pitch walk.
Riley Greene tried to ambush Miller’s next pitch and hit into a fast 3-6-1 double play.
The Tigers didn’t get another hit until McGonigle led off the ninth with a bloop double off lefty Gabe Speier. Nothing came of it.
Miller has allowed four earned runs in 27 innings this season.
Check back later for an updated version of this story.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers’ hot start to June doused by shutout loss to Mariners
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chris McCosky, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
