Blue Jays belt back-to-back homers for wild walk-off win

TORONTO -- Embrace the chaos.

There was no shortage of it in the Blue Jays’ 5-4 walk-off win over the D-backs on Tuesday evening. It was only fitting that Bo Bichette and Addison Barger would hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the ninth to finish off the comeback at Rogers Centre.

For a team that had been building wins on the back of its role players, it was a fine development to see the top of the order come through.

“There's always a belief,” said Bichette. “I mean, really, one through nine, everybody can get the job done in any moment. Up, down, close, not close, or whatever it is, anybody can get the job done. And we believe that. It's a special thing.”

Bichette did his part in the ninth, launching a 1-2 splitter from Shelby Miller to tie the game at 4 and bring up Barger, who slid into the No. 2 spot ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Five pitches later, Blue Jays players were swarming home plate as Barger’s mammoth shot left the yard.

Any worries about not having Vladdy at the plate for a game-winning moment were quickly forgotten. He’s always liked to hit third, anyway.

Guerrero showed as much early in the game -- before things got messy -- crushing a first-inning RBI double and a third-inning homer to help the Blue Jays build a two-run lead. The guys hitting above made it hard to pitch around him, too. Both Bichette and Barger had doubled before their ninth-inning heroics.

“You want Vlad to have a chance late,” said manager John Schneider. “It's a constant battle between trying to construct a lineup where you could put some runs up against a starter, and then who do you want against high-leverage arms. I think Vladdy being comfortable in the three-hole is real. The numbers are what they are, and conversations with him are what they are. Glad it worked out today. But I think you have to have people around him to make it work.”

That’s been the struggle of late. The Blue Jays saw their share of inconsistencies from the top of the order during their road trip, most notably in that sweep by the Phillies over the weekend. Tuesday’s win was a loud reminder that this team will go as far as its stars will take it. No matter how weird things get.

“Every game has its own narrative,” said Bichette. “Ups and downs happen. Sometimes they don't. But we’re just trying to fight to the end and win a game. That’s it.”

The Blue Jays needed that spirit to start the homestand on a positive note.

The middle innings came with a healthy dose of drama. Toronto starter Chris Bassitt and Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt combined for five hit batters in the game, including a fastball from Pfaadt that hit Jonatan Clase in the knee in the bottom of the fourth and knocked him out of the game in the following frame. Myles Straw, who entered to replace Clase in center, suffered a right ankle sprain on a collision with the wall in that same inning, exiting the game and giving way to Alan Roden. By the end, four different players had seen time in the same position for the Blue Jays, something that hadn’t happened since 1985.

Adding to the oddities was Josh Naylor, whose RBI double was the cause of Straw’s misstep. Naylor put his hands on his head in disbelief as he saw Straw collide with the wall. Then he left second base and trotted all the way to the outfield, just to check on his former Cleveland teammate.

“He just said, ‘Hey man, hope you're OK,’ basically, which, you know, pretty cool,” said Schneider. “You never really see an opposing runner go all the way out to center. Canadians have nice manners.”

Another good takeaway from a wild walk-off.

“A lot going on,” said Schneider. “I didn't really have Will Robertson playing center on my bingo card. … Yeah, kind of a weird game, and we took some good swings at the end.”