Naylor brothers help power Guardians past White Sox in 10 innings

CLEVELAND — It was National Sibling Day on Wednesday. The Naylor brothers celebrated the occasion in grand fashion. After each hit home runs in the fourth inning, Josh Naylor delivered a game-tying double in the 10th and Bo Naylor followed with a game-winning base hit as the Guardians rallied past the White Sox 7-6 at Progressive Field. The pair of siblings combined for four hits and five RBIs to help power the first-place Guardians to their ninth win in 12 games. It is Cleveland's best start since 11-1 in 2002. The victory came after facing a 5-0 deficit for the second straight night, but unlike Tuesday, the Guardians were able to complete the comeback. "I think we're a resilient group," Josh Naylor said. "I think we care about each other. We take pride in our at-bats and play the game the whole way through. I think that's what makes us a great team. We believe in each other, just pass the baton. If we continue to do that, then we'll continue to come back if we need to come back or just play all the way through and keep putting runs up in innings." "As much as we are resilient, we're definitely up for any challenge, any task," said Bo Naylor. "When you have odds like that against you, I feel like all this group does is get fired up and wants to get the job done that much more. I think it speaks volumes to the culture that this team has created and just how we go out there and fight every at-bat, every inning and every pitch." Rookie manager Stephen Vogt is grateful for his team's approach thus far in his debut season. "It makes me feel great but it should pump the boys up," Vogt said. "Two nights in a row, getting behind five runs early and fighting back, fighting back, and we were able to finish this one off. Credit to the fight in this team and the bullpen yet again, just standing strong and doing their job. "These guys are playing really, really well and they're playing for each right now and I love it." For the second straight night, the White Sox jumped a Cleveland starter early, with right-hander Tanner Bibee lasting only four innings after allowing five runs within the first three. Bibee allowed two runs in the first before serving up a three-run homer to Gavin Sheets in the third. For the second straight night, the Guardians struck right back. Josh Naylor hit his third homer of the season to put Cleveland on the board in the fourth and, three batters later, Bo hit a two-run blast to bring his team within 5-3. The Guardians closed to a run on a solo shot from leadoff man Steven Kwan in the fifth. Kwan, who led the American League with 20 hits through Tuesday, stayed hot by producing his eighth multi-hit game in 12 games. Cleveland tied without a hit in the sixth, loading the bases on an error and two walks before pinch hitter David Fry was hit by a pitch. Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase got out of a sticky situation with the game tied at 5 in the ninth. After allowing a leadoff double to Braden Shewmake and committing an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Nicky Lopez to leave runners on first and third, Clase got Robbie Grossman to bounce into a double play. With the infield in, shortstop Brayan Rocchio charged a grounder, ran to the second base bag and threw to first with Shewmake remaining on third. Clase retired the following batter to keep the game tied. The Naylor brothers are living a dream few siblings ever experience. "I dreamt of it as a kid that it would eventually come true if we just kept working hard," older brother Josh Naylor said. "So, it's really not a shock to me. I kind of believed in it from Day 1 and I knew that if we just continued to work hard at our craft, we'd either play against each other or play with each other. God's good and we were able to play with each other. It's been great so far." "What a night for them, a home run in the same inning and then game-tying and game-winning hits," Vogt said. "I just can't imagine doing that with your brother. That's so cool." Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.