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

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Davis Schneider likes to imitate other players' batting stances during major league games. Sometimes, the Blue Jays' affable backup outfielder will be Aaron Judge, other times Bobby Witt Jr., or maybe Giancarlo Stanton.

He'll even pretend to be Will Smith, the Dodgers' slugging catcher who crouched behind Schneider to catch the first pitch of Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Smith never got that ball, because Schneider's impersonation of a World Series hero was absolutely pitch-perfect.

Toronto hit the first back-to-back homers to begin a game in World Series history when Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. connected on the first and third pitches by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Blake Snell to set a defiant early tone for the Jays against the defending champions.

Those homers also provided more runs than Trey Yesavage and his bullpen even needed in the Blue Jays' 6-1 victory, putting them on the brink of Canada's third World Series title.

Guerrero's eighth homer of a stellar postseason was no surprise. Schneider's first career playoff homer was a series-altering shocker — even for the 26-year-old outfielder himself.

“I didn’t really think I got it,” Schneider said with a grin. “But maybe playoff baseball is a little bit more juice, I don’t know.”

Schneider has been copying other players' stances for his entire professional career, which began when the Jays used a 28th-round pick on a kid out of small-town New Jersey. The scout who recommended him was John Schneider, who isn't related to him — but is now his manager in the big leagues.

When asked to explain why he changes his stance so frequently, Davis Schneider essentially shrugs and says he tries to copy any player who’s playing well in that particular week. When Judge is on a heater for the Yankees, for instance, Schneider might step up to the plate in the AL MVP’s imperious posture.

“I usually pick guys who are doing well,” Schneider said. “So (if) Judge has been doing well, (if) Will Smith is doing well -- I don’t know. I just like to have fun, and it’s baseball, so you've got to have fun with it.”

Davis Schneider actually wasn't impersonating a major leaguer when he led off Game 5. He was mimicking his own stance from 2023, when he hit 21 homers for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and earned his first promotion to the majors.

“I mean, I might switch it next game, so you never know,” Schneider said. “But I just like doing it. Sometimes I feel like my hands are in a different spot one day, and I need to change it. I’ve been doing it my whole career, and I’m not going to stop now.”

Schneider came up at Dodger Stadium looking for a first-pitch fastball on the advice of George Springer, the Jays' veteran leadoff hitter and former World Series MVP for Houston. Springer has missed the last two games with an injury to his right side, but he prepared Schneider to occupy his spot.

“George kind of always preaches you (should) always be ready for a fastball for the first pitch leading off the game,” Schneider said. “George has done it for numerous years, and I’ve got to take some advice when I can get it. Yeah, sitting fastball, it was up in the zone.”

Schneider hammered that high fastball to left, where it cleared the fence before a dumbfounded crowd of more than 52,175.

Schneider was 3 for 16 with a double and no RBIs in his first six playoff games this month. Snell struck out Schneider in his next two plate appearances in Game 5 before he was lifted for Myles Straw's defense, but Schneider had already carved a spot in Blue Jays playoff lore.

If Schneider gets a chance to play when the Series shifts to Toronto, he'll seize the chance to do another impersonation. He says nobody has ever mentioned the fact that he's copying them — not even Smith after Schneider mimicked him in the Series opener.

“I think it’s funny,” Schneider said. “Like, if they notice, I don’t know. Like, if Judge ever notices or Will Smith. I mean, I did it in Game 1, and Will Smith was standing right behind me, so, I mean, I wonder if he noticed or not."

"But hopefully they notice now.”

Guerrero then blasted an 0-1 fastball to left to extend his own Blue Jays record for homers in a postseason by hitting it 394 feet. The star slugger also had the tone-setting homer in Game 4, 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.

“Against a really good pitcher like (Snell), you have to be ready to hit,” John Schneider said. “He’s going to come after you. He’s going to challenge you. I think those two swings from Schneid and from Vlad ... we wanted to be aggressive. There’s a time to grind ’em, and there’s a time to be ready to hit. Just pretty cool it worked out the way it did.”