Blue Jays hit first leadoff back-to-back homers in World Series history - on 3 pitches

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Toronto Blue Jays hit the first back-to-back homers to begin a game in World Series history Wednesday night when Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected on the first and third pitches by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Blake Snell.

Leadoff hitter Schneider delivered his first career playoff homer on Snell’s very first pitch in Game 5, hammering a high fastball to left.

Guerrero then blasted an 0-1 fastball to left for his Blue Jays-record eighth homer of the postseason, hitting it 394 feet. The star slugger also homered in Game 4 of the World Series, connecting off Shohei Ohtani.

Each of Snell’s first three pitches were fastballs. He didn’t throw another the rest of the first inning. Snell had only allowed one homer in his previous 50 innings of work

Back-to-back leadoff homers had only happened one other time to begin a playoff game: Ray Durham and Scott Hatteberg of the Oakland Athletics connected off Minnesota’s Rick Reed in Game 3 of the 2002 AL division series.

Schneider is a backup outfielder who replaced injured George Springer in the leadoff spot while playing left field in place of Nathan Lukes. Schneider was 3 for 16 with a double and no RBIs in his first six playoff games this month.

Snell is already having another rocky start against the Blue Jays after the $182 million left-hander dominated throughout the NL playoffs. Snell gave up five runs on eight hits and three walks over five innings while taking the loss in Toronto’s 11-4 victory in the series opener.

Schneider’s homer also marked the first time the Blue Jays have scored first in this World Series. The teams split the first two games in Toronto, and Los Angeles won an 18-inning epic after two homers from Ohtani in Game 3 before the Jays calmly evened the series with a 6-2 victory Tuesday.

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press