SEATTLE — To understand the meaning of Andres Gimenez’s big swing on Wednesday evening, it’s important to consider the full scope of the moment.
T-Mobile Park’s sellout crowd was rocking thanks to Julio Rodriguez’s two-run homer in the first inning while, early on, it looked like Seattle Mariners’ starter George Kirby was going to continue his dominant October on the mound.
It sure did feel like the walls were slowly closing in during an American League Championship Series Game 3 that the Toronto Blue Jays simply could not lose.
However, things changed suddenly when Ernie Clement dunked an inside sinker from Kirby into left field to open the third inning. That brought Gimenez to the plate.
The Blue Jays’ shortstop entered the day batting .190 in the post-season and had hit just seven home runs all year, with his last coming on Aug. 27. He was arguably the most unlikely player on the roster to go deep in this situation.
And yet, after fouling off a 96.6-m.p.h. sinker from Kirby, Gimenez authored a massive cut on an inside four-seamer, depositing it into the right-field stands at an estimated 399 feet.
“I swung hard but basically I was trying to hit the ball a little bit in front, just to hit it to that part of the field so Ernie could get to third,” Gimenez said with a smile that soon turned into a chuckle. “But, you know, I’m okay with what happened.”
The importance of Gimenez’s two-run homer can’t be overstated. The Blue Jays’ offence had looked anemic over the first two games of the series and that continued during the first two innings on Wednesday. However, Gimenez’s blast carried a cathartic, Pop-the-Balloon type feel that changed things in a convincing 13-4 win that cut the Mariners’ ALCS lead to 2-1.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider was asked if the homer felt like a series-changing moment.
“It’s a big swing,” Schneider replied. “I think, yeah.”
With Gimenez, the No. 9 hitter, coming up in that situation, one path could’ve seen him bunt and have the top of the order play for one run. However, Schneider opted to let Gimenez swing and had faith the left-handed hitter’s goal was to get the ball to the right side of the field.
“In that situation, down two, I trust Gimmy to handle the bat at the very least and at least get Ernie over, but I loved the intent in which he swung with,” said the manager.
Blue Jays’ starter Shane Bieber surrendered the booming homer to Rodriguez in the first frame but when he got back into the dugout, he told teammates to “Pick me up.”
“Momentum,” Bieber said, describing the impact of Gimenez’s homer. “I feel like this game is so momentum-based and so for Andres to go out there and just pick me up like he did and even the score, it was huge for us. It was awesome for him to be able to go out there and do that for not only himself, but everybody in that dugout.”
The Blue Jays scored three more off Kirby in the five-run third inning and the runs kept coming in waves.
Kirby was chased in the top of the fifth and by time the game was mercilessly over, Toronto had collected 18 hits, tying a franchise record for the most in a post-season contest. Eight different players drove in at least one run while in addition to Gimenez, who went 3-for-5, George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger each belted their own home runs to give the Blue Jays an MLB-leading 15 during these playoffs.
“I think definitely something changed for our offence,” said Gimenez, who until the third inning had never homered in 92 career post-season plate appearances. “But we came tonight with a mentality to attack and try to do our job the best we can and we did it.”
The Blue Jays knew Kirby’s tendency to get ahead in the count with his two-seamer was as sure as clockwork. Seattle’s pitchers had collectively been successful in carrying out that approach over the first two games of the series and by the third inning of Game 3, the Blue Jays had finally adjusted.
“I just thought we executed a really good game plan and approach against him knowing that he’s going to come right after you, and it’s the difference between trying to just put the ball in play and trying to do some damage,” said Schneider. “You have to make adjustments as you see fit as you go, but I thought we stayed pretty relentless on Kirby and then had some big runs late.”
As Schneider and several players sat in front of the microphone on the podium following the victory, they spoke of momentum. Max Scherzer will take the ball for the Blue Jays in Thursday’s pivotal Game 4 and it remains to be seen if things carry forward against Mariners’ right-hander Luis Castillo.
“Momentum can be a real thing,” said Schneider. “We’re going to approach tomorrow like the series is 0-0.”
Guerrero Jr. also mentioned the word, noting that it all started with Gimenez.
“Definitely changed the momentum right there,” Guerrero Jr. said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I mean, coming from Andres, that’s what happens when you trust your teammates. You got to trust everyone in that lineup and when you tie the game like that, I mean, everything changed in that dugout.”
