Was this a dirty play by Josh Naylor on Kevin McGonigle?

It wasn't necessarily a dirty play by Josh Naylor, but it could have been avoided. Kevin McGonigle wound up paying the price.

When McGonigle hit a slow roller to Naylor at first base in the fifth inning of the Tigers' win over the Mariners Friday night, Naylor fielded the ball after a brief bobble and could have easily flipped it to pitcher Bryan Woo who was covering the bag as McGonigle raced down the line.

Instead, Naylor chose to take it himself and arrived a split second before McGonigle, whose head slammed into Naylor's shoulder, sending his helmet flying into the air and his body into a spin.

“The whole way, I thought he was going to flip it to Woo,” McGonigle said after Detroit's 7-3 win. “Woo was there early, so I expected that. I’m not sure why he took himself there. But I tried to beat it out when I saw him. I hustled toward the bag and we ended up colliding. All good.”

McGonigle -- a football player in high school -- shook off the blow as he trotted down the line and into the outfield, blinking to regain his bearings. He wound up with only a cut near his eye from his helmet, but it could have been a lot worse.

The night prior, Max Muncy of the Dodgers had a violent head-to-head collision with Diamondbacks first baseman Ildemaro Vargas on a similar play, forcing both to leave the game. Difference was, Vargas had no choice but to take the ball to the bag because Muncy beat the pitcher there.

Naylor could have brought Friday night's play to a routine end by flipping the ball to Woo, but used his stocky frame -- 5'11, 235 pounds -- to his advantage. Naylor has about 50 pounds on McGonigle, who's listed at 5-9, 187.

"Naylor was the bigger vehicle coming into first base," said A.J. Hinch. "He was going to win that battle. That's what a lot of first basemen are doing. Kevin is going to the base trying to beat him there, and Naylor is taking an angle, and I think he was betting on winning that collision if it was going to hit, but he was trying to get the out. That is the competition. Luckily, both players avoided anything major."

All's well that ends well enough.

"It was fine," said McGonigle. "I was just more confused why he took it to the bag himself. But it's all good."

Naylor rankled the Tigers again on Saturday with another questionable play, this time throwing his protective base-running mitt into Dillon Dingler as he dove home plate to beat a relay throw from right field and avoid Dingler's tag. Naylor was ruled just safe upon review to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead in the third.

Naylor paid the price for both plays his next time up, taking a 96 mph heater from Keider Montero to the shoulder on the first pitch he saw. Naylor laughed it off as he walked down the line to first, then slid hard into second baseman Gleyber Torres on the ensuing inning-ending double play.