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Blue Jays: Remembering Steve Pearce’s two walk-off grand slams in a four-day span
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
May 15, 2026, 15:15 EDTUpdated: May 15, 2026, 15:04 EDT
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Despite being in Major League Baseball for 50 years, the Toronto Blue Jays have only hit five walk-off grand slams.
The most recent one came on Wednesday. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the 10th, Daulton Varsho took Aaron Brooks deep to give the Blue Jays a much-needed 5-3 win to snap a three-game losing streak.
Their first walk-off grand slam came courtesy of George Bell back on September 4th, 1988, followed by Greg Zaun’s home run nearly 20 years to the day, doing so on September 6th, 2008. The other two came in a four-day span.
Let’s take a look at those two grand slams.

The two walk-off grand slams of 2017

The 2017 Blue Jays were a weird team. They were in that transition period between being a World Series contender like they were the two seasons prior, and a rebuilding team like the two seasons after.
Following the 2016 season, they signed Steve Pearce to a two-year deal, with the first baseman/outfielder never notching more than 400 plate appearances in a single season. However, he was coming off one of his better years in 2016, slashing .288/.374/.492 with 13 home runs in 302 plate appearances split between the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays.
By July 26th, 2017, the Jays weren’t completely out of the postseason race, having won the first three games against the Oakland Athletics. July 26th’s game saw Marcus Semien hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead. 
But in the bottom of the ninth, Justin Smoak tied the game with a two-run blast, followed by a walk-off home run courtesy of Kendry Morales. They finished the night eight games back of the division-leading Boston Red Sox, and six-and-a-half games behind the final wild card spot.
Looking to sweep the four-game series against the Athletics, the Jays were down 4-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Morales hit his second home run of the game to knot it up at four and send it to extras. After a scoreless top of the tenth, the Blue Jays got some base runners.
Miguel Montero drew a one-out walk, with both Smoak and Morales drawing two-out walks to bring Pearce to the plate with the bases loaded. Pearce was down 1-2 in the count, but took two straight balls for a full count. And on the sixth pitch of the, Pearce pulled a line drive over the left field fence for a walk-off grand slam in an 8-4 victory.
It was just the third walk-off grand slam in franchise history, and the first in nearly a decade. There was no decade long wait for the next walk-off grand slam.
The Blue Jays next series began the day after, dropping the first two games against the Los Angeles Angels thanks to a 7-2 and 6-5 loss. That put them nine games back of the division lead and seven games back of the final wild card spot.
Looking to avoid being swept, the Jays fell in a 7-1 hole early, but cut the lead to 7-4 after a three-run bottom of the third. Over the course of the game, the Angels tacked on three more runs, taking a 10-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Ryan Goins led off the inning with a walk, and was immediately cashed in thanks to a two-run blast by Kevin Pillar. Following Pillar, Rob Refsynder reached on a double to keep the rally alive. Ezequiel Carrera hit a single to put runners on the corners, leading to an RBI single from Russell Martin to make it a 10-7 game.
Smoak grounded out, but Morales walked to load the bases for, you guessed it, Steve Pearce. Taking the first two pitches for balls, Pearce drove the third pitch to left centre field for his second walk-off home run in four days. This one is one of only a handful of “ultimate” grand slams, a grand slam that instantly overcomes a three run deficit.
Pearce is only one of three players to have ever hit two walk-off grand slams in a season. In 1986, Seattle Mariners third baseman Jim Presley hit a walk-off home run against the California Angels on April 8th, then did it again against the Red Sox on July 17th.
The other time came all the way back in 1926, when Cy Williams hit a pinch-hit grand slam for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Boston Braves on April 15th, followed by one against the Brooklyn Robins on September 8th. No one, before or since, has hit two walk-off grand slams in the same week like Pearce did back in 2017.
Pearce also holds another rare distinction, being just one of two players to have played for all five current American League East teams, joining Kelly Johnson. 
Only six other players have played for all five teams in a division in the current alignment, Mark McLemore in the American League West, former Blue Jay Brad Hand in the National League East, Steve Finley and Matt Herges in the National League West, and César Izturis and Ted Savage in the National League Central.
The Blue Jays were Pearce’s fourth stop in the AL East. Before the 2018 trade deadline, the Blue Jays shipped the veteran to the Boston Red Sox, his fifth stop in the AL East, for Santiago Espinal. It was a trade that worked out for both teams, as Pearce was named the 2018 World Series MVP before retiring after the 2019 season, while Espinal had some good seasons with the Jays.
Still, Pearce’s two walk-off grand slams in a four-day span remains one of the highlights in the late 2010s for the Jays.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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