Alejandro Kirk came through with yet another late-game clutch hit for the Toronto Blue Jays in their 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

And what a ninth inning it was.

With the score knotted at one run apiece in the top half, Brendon Little returned for his second inning of work, retiring fellow lefties Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber. Then, with a string of righties coming up, closer Jeff Hoffman — who spent two seasons with the Phillies prior to signing with the Blue Jays last off-season — was summoned out of the bullpen to record the final out of the frame.

In the bottom half, former Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano entered out of the ‘pen, hoping to extend the contest into extra innings. After Bo Bichette popped out in foul territory, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. laced a 116.4-m.p.h. single up the middle and proceeded to steal second — his first stolen base of 2025. That put the winning run in scoring position for the red-hot Addison Barger, who went down swinging on a sharp-breaking slider for his third strikeout of the game.

With two outs in the inning, it all came down to Kirk.

The 26-year-old backstop had spent 82 combined innings catching Romano, second only to Danny Jansen, who caught him for 98.2 innings. Still, there were likely no secrets between former batterymates.

Despite falling behind 0-2, Kirk put together an incredible battle against Romano, fouling off three consecutive pitches — one heater at 98 m.p.h. and a pair of hard sliders. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Toronto’s surging catcher sent a belt-high 97.2-m.p.h. fastball into the right-centre gap to deliver the walk-off hit, securing the club’s seventh win in nine games.

Romano, who inked a one-year deal worth $8.5 million with the Phillies after being non-tendered by the Blue Jays last winter, endured a miserable start to 2025 with his new club that ultimately cost him his closer’s role. But he had been much better of late, regaining his ninth-inning job with José Alvarado suspended 80 games for PEDs.

Entering Wednesday’s return at Rogers Centre, the Markham, Ont., native had converted all seven of his save opportunities across 13 previous outings. He also pitched to a much improved 2.84 ERA and 2.36 FIP, striking out 20 and walking six over 12.2 innings.

While Romano now stands on the opposing side, there’s no denying how much he still means to this franchise, sitting third all-time in saves (105) behind Duane Ward (121) and Tom Henke (217).

In six seasons with Toronto, the 32-year-old righty earned a 2.90 ERA and 3.53 FIP over 231 total appearances, registering 285 strikeouts in 229.2 innings, worth a combined 3.7 fWAR.

Not only was it fitting for Kirk to deliver the decisive blow in Romano’s return, but it was also another encouraging sign in what’s been a promising last three weeks at the dish for the right-handed-hitting catcher. It was a slow start out of the gate, but he’s overcome those woes recently and has closely resembled the Silver Slugger he was in 2022.

Since May 10, Kirk has been hitting .361/.438/.443 with a .390 wOBA and 157 wRC+ (100 league average) in 73 plate appearances, earning 10 walks and only four strikeouts. He’s produced a hard-hit ball (exit velocity of at least 95 m.p.h.) nearly two-thirds of the time and has upped his line-drive rate to 32.2 per cent, creating the perfect storm for his offensive resurgence.

Thanks to Kirk’s elite defence behind the plate, he’s been one of the sport’s most valuable catchers during this remarkable span, ranking fourth in fWAR (1.1) among big-league backstops with at least 50 plate appearances — trailing former Blue Jay Gabriel Moreno (1.3), Carlos Narváez (1.5) and Cal Raleigh (1.8).

All the talk entering this season was how the ’22 All-Star — who’s on pace to play 130 games this season, his most in three years — would adjust to becoming the undisputed No. 1 catcher after Danny Jansen left for Tampa Bay via free agency. While we’re not even halfway through the 162-game schedule, it’s fair to say he’s adjusting rather well to his expanded role.

At this rate, Kirk is well on his way to proving his five-year, $58-million extension could become quite the bargain for a top-tier catcher.