SEATTLE — The Blue Jays came into Game 3 of the ALCS starving for a big swing. It didn’t matter where it came from.
Forget the usual suspects, though. Their time came later. It was Andrés Giménez who started it all, the No. 9 hitter whose entire offensive identity … is that he’s a great defender.
Giménez’s two-run shot kickstarted a five-run inning for the Blue Jays, their second five-run frame this postseason after the organization had done that just four times in its postseason history. With Toronto down two early after Julio Rodríguez launched a first-inning blast off Shane Bieber, Giménez’s moment not only reset the game, it set the table for the Blue Jays to pile on with five home runs as a team, making them the first visiting team to hit five at T-Mobile Park since the Pirates on May 26, 2023 (7 HR).
“You never know how it’s going to go. You never know who it’s going to be, right?” said manager John Schneider. “That’s a really, really big swing to get us going on down the line in that inning. That was a big swing.”
Soon after Giménez launched the Blue Jays’ first home run of the game, we saw the first signs of life in the ALCS from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose double nearly split a hole in the left-field wall. A run eventually scored on a wild pitch from George Kirby, who had completely lost control after an encouraging start, and Daulton Varsho ripped a two-run double of his own to right field to round out the inning. That early feeling of “here we go again” disappeared in a flurry of big swings and baserunners.
Of course it started with Ernie Clement and Giménez, though. Of course, after all the time spent talking about Vladdy, George Springer and Anthony Santander, it was the No. 9 hitter.
“It feels great,” Giménez said. “Obviously a great moment to hit the first one of my career [in the postseason]. At that moment, I was thinking of bunting and moving the runner over. That’s what I was trying. But I was trying to put the ball over on this side of the field [right side].”
This was just the fifth time the Blue Jays have gotten a home run from their nine-hole hitter in postseason history. Giménez joins Danny Jansen, who did it twice in the 2020 Wild Card Series, along with Ryan Goins (2015 ALCS) and Ed Sprague (1992 World Series).
The rest of baseball is finally learning what Toronto already knows. Clement is more than just a utility player, he’s a winner, and when this organization needs Clement most, he just keeps showing up.
“He’s really surprising, playing with him, just how good he is,” said Game 4 starter Max Scherzer. “How good he is defensively, his hands, his bat, everything he does to help the ballclub win.”
Not to be outdone by the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Addison Barger added a homer of his own out of the No. 7 spot, a solo blast in the top of the ninth to give Toronto its 13th run and complete the drubbing.
When the Blue Jays win, they win as a full, 26-man roster.
“We’re built around George and Vlad and them doing it, but I think those other guys like Ernie continuing to swing it and guys not being afraid to take some shots, that’s the biggest thing,” Schneider said. “If you’re grinding and you’re a young guy, don’t be afraid to be who you are. I’ve been saying it all year. Be who you are.”
Schneider wasn’t hiding from this lineup’s problems prior to the game, either. He moved Santander up to the cleanup spot behind Guerrero, and while Santander’s past numbers against Kirby were strong, this was more of a gut call from Schneider. He wanted to chase a home run any way possible, chase a shot at that one moment that could break a game open and swing the momentum of this series.
“Let’s try to have a few less jabs and a few more uppercuts,” Schneider said.
Giménez doesn’t land many of those. The beauty of an uppercut, though, is that you only need to land one to change everything.
