TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger launched the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history during over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.
Batting for Davis Schneider against left-hander Anthony Banda, Barger drilled a 2-1 slider 413 feet to right-center — his third home run this postseason.
“I was choking up a little bit, just trying to put the ball in the air and get a run in in that situation,” Barger said.
Barger’s drive was the first postseason grand slam in Toronto history, and the big blow in a nine-run sixth inning that gave the Blue Jays an 11-2 lead over the defending World Series champions.
After he was told to get ready to pinch hit, Barger ran to the club’s high-tech Trajekt pitching machine to watch simulated pitches from Dodgers righty Emmet Sheehan, who was in the game at the time. He was surprised to face Banda instead.
“I know it’s a tough at bat, left on left, but the goal was just put the barrel on the ball, hopefully hit it in the air and get the run in,” Barger said.
“I hope he doesn’t know who is pitching tomorrow,” Toronto manager John Schneider joked.
Barger hit for Davis Schneider a night after crashing on his teammate’s pull-out couch. It wasn’t immediately clear why Barger didn’t have anywhere else to sleep.
“It was so funny,” Schneider said. “I looked over and just saw him sleeping there in the middle of the night. He’s a headcase but he’s funny.”
Barger arrived at the ballpark Thursday wearing a t-shirt that read “I hit balls hard,” one he said came from a minor league hitting coach. He got another shirt after Friday’s win, a gift from Hall of Famer and Fox TV panelist David Ortiz during his appearance on the postgame show, but declined it.
“I left it,” Barger said. “It has Red Sox on it, I’m not wearing that. Are you kidding me?”
Fellow outfielder Myles Straw agreed, calling Barger “one of the funniest guys I’ve ever played with.”
“He’s hilarious,” Straw said. “That’s what makes him who he is and that’s why we all love him. There’s no one else like him, I promise you. He’s got some loose screws, for sure.”
Alejandro Kirk added a two-run homer later in the sixth for Toronto.
It marked the third-biggest inning in World Series history. The Philadelphia Athletics scored 10 runs in the seventh against the Chicago Cubs in Game 4 in 1929, and the Detroit Tigers matched that total in the third inning of Game 6 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968.
Toronto is in the World Series for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 1993.
Barger hit 21 home runs in the regular season, his second in the majors.
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