Young Blue Jays power walk-off win

TORONTO -- Saturday’s game was one for the rookies in Toronto.

The young core has shown flashes of brilliance throughout a tough season for the Blue Jays, and Saturday’s 7-5 win walk-off win over the Royals had the rooks on centre stage at Rogers Centre, fueling the team to its third straight victory at home.

• Box score

With one on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Danny Jansen delivered the decisive blow when he hit the first walk-off home run of his professional career.

“There’s no better feeling,” the 24-year-old catcher said. “That was the first time I’ve ever done that in my life, so it was pretty awesome, and a tremendous feeling.”

Jansen’s two-run shot, his fourth home run of the season, capped off a matchup that also saw Cavan Biggio hit the first grand slam of his young career, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered for the first time in several weeks.

“It’s a cool thing,” Jansen said. “Those guys are tremendous players and I’m honoured that I’m able to play with them. We all push each other to make each other better, so it was a cool feeling for everybody.”

Biggio shared his teammate’s sentiment.

“We get momentum going our way and it’s one guy feeding off another, and it’s honestly really fun,” the 24-year-old right fielder said. “The atmosphere in the stadium and in our dugout, when you see [Lourdes Gurriel Jr.] get a big hit or Vladdy, it just excites guys and gets guys going.”

Guerrero got the home team on the board when he hit his first long ball since June 5 and his eighth of the season, a solo shot to left field in the third inning. It took the 20-year-old slugger 53 games to hit the mark, while his father hit his eighth homer of his career in his 67th game.

“I know it feels good,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “I know he’s seeing all his friends going deep so I know, because as a kid and they’re having fun, he wanted to hit one too. So I bet he feels a lot better now.”

Biggio stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth frame and hit the fourth pitch of his at-bat 410 feet, according to Statcast, just over the wall in left-centre field for his sixth long ball of the year. It marked the first time he has driven in four runs in a game.

“I love seeing Cavan,” Jansen said. “And Vladdy, and Gurriel’s unbelievable, all those guys. It’s been fun seeing the young guys do some stuff and contribute, and hopefully there’s more to come.”

Biggio and Guerrero’s homers came off of Royals starter Homer Bailey, who became the first pitcher to face both rookies after also facing their fathers. Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Craig Biggio didn’t fare as well, combining to go 1-for-6 over nine plate appearances against the right-hander, with one walk, two RBIs and three strikeouts.

“It’s pretty cool,” Biggio said of facing a guy his father also did. “Homer, he’s been around the game for a long time and it’s for a good reason. He’s a great pitcher on the mound and I was able to put a good swing on it.”

Toronto leads the Majors with 351 games played by rookies this season. The Blue Jays’ freshman players also lead all of baseball with 203 rookie hits, 37 home runs, 111 RBIs and 80 extra-base hits.

“It’s exciting,” starting pitcher Marcus Stroman said. “That’s the type of level we can play at each and every day. It’s exciting to see Jano with the huge walk-off, but you’re getting it from everyone, all the young guys, whether it be Biggio or Vladdy or Jano. On any given night, there are so many different guys contributing. When we start putting all that together, we could be a pretty scary team.”

The offence backed an injury-shortened start from Stroman, Toronto’s most consistent member of the rotation this season. The 28-year-old right-hander finished four innings before leaving the game with a left shoulder pectoral cramp, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He does not expect to miss a start.