Addison Barger hit the biggest home run of his life Friday night, delivering the big blow with a grand slam that led the Toronto Blue Jays to an 11-4 Game 1 victory in the World Series.
But he might not have had his best sleep the night before.
Teammate Davis Schneider told reporters Barger needed a place to stay and slept on his pullout couch the night before Game 1.
“His family is coming in, came in tonight,” Schneider explained.
“He needed someone. He was staying with [teammate Myles Straw] and then stayed with me last night. My girlfriend is here so like, he’s like ‘Can I sleep in the bed with you guys,’” Schneider said with a laugh.
“So I was like ‘no,’ sleep on my couch. Sleep on the pullout. It’s a pullout, yeah. But it was squeaking all night.
“Yeah, it was so funny. I looked over and I just see him sleeping there in the middle of the night. He’s a headcase, but he’s fun.”
It looks like Barger kept his routine after Game 1, staying over again on Schneider sofa bed, according to Schneider’s older sister, Madeline.
Teammates often stay with one another during the season and a few told reporters this week they’ve been staying closer to Rogers Centre to avoid traffic around the stadium.
Barger did not start Friday’s Game 1 with left-hander Blake Snell on the mound for the Dodgers, but came in to pinch-hit in the sixth inning in the midst of a Blue Jay rally, blowing the game wide open with a grand slam that put Toronto up 9-2.
It was the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.
“When I saw the fans catch it,” Barger said when asked when he knew it was a home run.
“I didn’t think I got it at all. But so much adrenaline and stuff, I was just like, I can’t even remember it really.”
The Jays scored seven runs that inning, going into the frame tied 2-2 and entering the seventh up 11-2. A Shohei Ohtani home run an inning later made things 11-4 but that was as close as the Dodgers got.
Kevin Gausman gets the ball for Toronto in Game 2 Saturday against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The series will then shift to Los Angeles Monday night for Game 3.
