The success of the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays has truly been a team effort in every sense of the word, and fortunately, Davis Schneider got his turn to contribute a big moment to this magical playoff run in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

While the Blue Jays as a whole have thrived throughout the playoffs and now find themselves just one win away from a World Series title, Schneider has quietly struggled a bit in limited opportunities.

Coming into Wednesday’s Game 5 start, the 26-year-old was slashing just .188/.316/.250 across 19 plate appearances, collecting just three hits and three walks, including only one extra-base hit that came back in the ALDS when he doubled against the Yankees. Since the ALDS, Schneider had just four at-bats against a Seattle Mariners team that used four right-handed starting pitchers, and six more thus far in the World Series before Game 5, including a Game 1 start when Blake Snell took the mound for the Dodgers that night as well.

Schneider was back in the lineup on Wednesday evening as Snell returned for his second start of the series, but this time he was used as the leadoff hitter in place of the ailing George Springer. While some fans questioned the decision on social media before the game, the former 28th-round pick quickly silenced any doubters with a solo home run against Snell on the very first pitch of the game.

As if that wasn’t enough, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed Schneider with a second ball deposited into the left field seats on just the third pitch from the two-time Cy Young award winner.

The New Jersey native obviously went to the plate with a plan to be aggressive against Snell, and he wasted no time in putting the Dodgers’ #1 starter on his heels. Snell is capable of being one of the very best pitchers in baseball, and he’d been just that throughout the postseason before he met the Blue Jays in the World Series. The 32-year-old came into the Fall Classic having thrown 21 postseason innings spread out against the Reds, Phillies, and Brewers, and had allowed just two earned runs on six hits and five walks, striking out 28. He’ll finish the World Series with an 8.04 ERA against the Blue Jays, giving up 10 earned runs over 11 2/3 innings pitched.

None of that mattered to Schneider as he led off the game and sent the first pitch into the bleachers at Dodger Stadium, and it was the kind of tone-setting blast that immediately changed the energy of the crowd.

We’ll likely never know for certain, but based on what happened two pitches later when Guerrero Jr. doubled the home run fun, I think it’s a safe assumption that it changed the energy of the moment for Snell as well. He looked pretty rattled when we last saw him in Game 1, and thanks to Schneider’s first-pitch heroics, he was immediately back in trouble against one of the most dangerous offences in the game. He managed to settle down and pitched well until the seventh inning before he got into trouble again, but little did we know that those two first-inning runs would be enough to get the win on their own in the end.

As I said earlier, this Blue Jays squad really has put forth a total-team effort in 2025, and while they’ve been led by the record-setting performances of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Trey Yesavage, and more, it’s felt like nearly everyone on the roster has had a signature moment at some point over the last few weeks.

It’s safe to say that Davis Schneider can now say the same, as he lived out the childhood dream of millions with a World Series home run, and more importantly, helped the Blue Jays get to just one win away from the ultimate prize.

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