CLEVELAND _ Tyler Naquin and the Indians ended Friday night's game in such a way that hadn't been done in about a century. It's why, every night at the ballpark, you might see something you've never seen before.
Behind 2-1 with an out in the bottom of the ninth inning against Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna, one of the better closers in the league, Jose Ramirez slammed a solo home run to right field to tie it 2-2. To turn up the excitement to 11, Tyler Naquin followed by hitting a ball off the top of the wall in right field. It got away from Blue Jays right fielder Michael Saunders and was fielded by center fielder Melvin Upton, who slipped. It allowed Naquin, sans helmet, to make the turn home and slide head-first for a wild walk-off, inside-the-park home run.
It's one of the craziest ways to end a ballgame. How unlikely was it? The last player to do it was San Francisco Giants outfielder Angel Pagan in 2013. The last time an Indians player did it was Braggo Roth on Aug. 13, 1916, to beat the St. Louis Browns, nearly 100 years ago to the day.
The inside-the-park walk-off was enough. Add in the game-tying home run a few seconds before and the fact that Naquin also won Thursday's game with a walk-off sacrifice fly, and it's one of the more exciting 24 hours in Indians history.
Naquin had the possibility of turning for home in his head from the beginning.
"I was just thinking after I hit it, I took a couple steps out of the box and just pictured it kicking off the wall," Naquin said. "I said, 'I have a chance to score if it kicks far enough.' And sure enough, it did."
Many Indians players and coaches thought it was gone off the bat and had taken a step or two onto the warning track in front of the dugout. They retreated back to the dugout and then sprinted with Naquin to home plate.
"When Naquin hit his, I think we all got so excited, we thought it was going out and when it hit the wall, I was up at the warning track, so I went back in the dugout," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "I tell you what, he hustled his (butt) off. It seemed like he was picking up speed."
The instant Naquin crossed the plate, he sprung up, threw up a traditional Metal, "Rock On" symbol with his hand, index and pinkie finger extended, and yelled as he was mobbed at home plate.
"Just rockin' out," Naquin said. "That was a pretty cool moment, so I'm going to get into it."
That replay and image will be used often in commercials and social media posts by the Indians for quite some time. To this point, it's the seminal play of the 2016 season.
