The Toronto Blue Jays were gaining momentum in the bottom of the sixth inning last night. Dodgers ace Blake Snell had loaded up the bases, and the bullpen was called into action, with Emmet Sheehan being the first name brought into the mix. The game was tied at 2-2, but the Jays had a prime opportunity to take the lead with zero outs on the board.

Sheehan fared no better, and when the dust settled, the bases were still loaded and the Jays were now ahead 5-2 on the scoreboard. The Dodgers’ right-hander got one out to go in his favour, but the Jays were making a change at the plate that was going to end Sheehan’s night as well.

After George Springer grounded out, manager John Schneider turned to Addison Barger to create the lefty/right-hander matchup with Sheehan, lifting Davis Schneider from the game. The Dodgers countered with a left-hander of their own in Anthony Banda, who was coming in to try and stop the bleeding.

Barger fought to a 2-1 count against the former Blue Jay, seeing two sliders and a 95.8 MPH sinker. With the next pitch, Banda hung a slider up and in front of Barger, and the Jays’ power bat did not miss the mistake pitch. The ball would travel 413 feet into the Rogers Centre outfield, hitting the stands at 106.2 MPH and giving the Jays four more runs on the no-doubt shot.

With this bomb, Barger enters the history books: the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.

It was a unique moment for Barger, as the left-handed bat had struggled against the same side for most of the regular season and his career. It was one of the reasons he did not start in last night’s game with Blake Snell on the mound. This season, the Washington product posted a .217/.270/.337 slash line with a .607 OPS against southpaws, striking out 27 times compared to six walks.

Of his 21 home runs this season, only one came off a left-hander, and Barger owned a 32.5% strikeout rate. On paper, the matchup between Banda and Barger made sense for Dave Roberts and the Dodgers, but a mistake pitch from the Dodgers’ reliever put the game on ice before Alejandro Kirk delivered the final nail in the coffin, a two-run blast to make it 11 runs.

This postseason, Barger owns an impressive .324/.405 /.622 slash line, collecting 12 hits, two doubles, and three home runs for a total of eight RBIs and a 1.027 OPS. He was a bit up and down during the ALDS against New York and the first two games against Seattle, but since October 15th (Game 3 – ALCS), Barger is riding a six-game hit streak, which includes all three of his postseason home runs and two multi-hit games.

It will be interesting to see if this blast from Barger may change Schneider’s approach for the lineup if/when the Jays face Snell again this series. The Dodgers’ other starters, for the most part, are right-handed – Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani – so unless Los Angeles opts for Clayton Kershaw to start, Barger will likely be getting starting reps for most of the World Series.

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