There’s no denying that walk-off grand slam in extra innings against a division rival is a big deal, but for Daulton Varsho and his Toronto Blue Jays teammates, it means a bit more than statistics and standings.
Varsho cleared the bases in the 10th inning with his fifth home run of the season as Toronto rallied past the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Wednesday.
The victory helped the Blue Jays both avoid a sweep at the hands of the American East leaders and snap a three-game skid.
“It can loosen up the clubhouse a little bit,” said Varsho of the intangible impact a walk-off win can have. “Knowing that we needed to just kind of have something like that, to be able to just take a deep breath and relax.
“That’s a big thing.”
Ben Williamson and Yandy Diaz had RBI singles in the 10th inning to give Tampa Bay (28-14) a 3-1 lead with three outs to go.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto drew walks in the bottom of the 10th, joining ghost runner George Springer, to load the bases with one out for Varsho.
The centre-fielder, who hasn’t had a home run since April 30, made no mistake on a 92.6 m.p.h. four-seam fastball from Rays reliever Aaron Brooks, launching the ball 375 feet over the left-centre field wall.
“I’m trying to move the runner over and get the next guy up behind me, because obviously we’re down by two there,” said Varsho of the climactic at bat. “So any way possible get on base, to be the tying run, or get the tying run to third base and being able to try to win.”
It was only the fifth walk-off grand slam in Blue Jays history.
Steve Pearce (July 27 and 30, 2017), Gregg Zaun (Sept. 6, 2008), and George Bell (Sept. 4, 1988) were the only others to accomplish the feat.
Varsho’s grand slam might be more momentous, however.
Toronto led Major League Baseball with 49 come-from-behind wins last season as the Blue Jays reached the World Series, eventually losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Manager John Schneider said that Varsho’s walk-off might be the start of a momentum shift for a Blue Jays (18-24) team that’s struggled to find its footing this season, sitting 9 1/2 games back of the first-place Rays.
“There’s always moments throughout the course of the year that you can say, ‘Yeah, OK, that was big,’” said Schneider. “I hope at this point, everyone’s kind of over last year, and the narrative and the 49 comeback wins and the this and the that.
“You have to just be able to create your own luck sometimes, and you’ve got to be ready to punch back when you get punched in the face. Doesn’t happen every day, but I think when it does happen, it just allows it to happen more.”
Toronto had Thursday off before starting a three-game series in Detroit on Friday against the Tigers. That series is the beginning of a 17-game stretch where the Blue Jays will play every day.
“Going into an off day and against a good team who’s played us really tough, we just needed a big hit,” said Schneider. “Varsho kind of was just calibrating on the high heater and clicked it.”
Dylan Cease struck out nine over seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits and three walks in a quality start for the Blue Jays. Louis Varland, Tyler Rogers, Mason Fluharty and Jeff Hoffman (2-2) came on in relief.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit,” said Cease of the Blue Jays, who have only won three of their past 10 games. “I mean every game is important. Everyone’s important.
“To come back like that, they put up a good inning, scored a couple, and to come back and win is huge.”
Add CityNews Toronto as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.
