Daulton Varsho, Ernie Clement homer in Blue Jays’ ALDS Game 2 win

TORONTO — The postseason is the birthplace for unlikely heroes.

The Blue Jays arenâ€t short on stars, but what makes this engine run is the neverending list of guys stepping up in big moments. The postseason is the perfect place for them to thrive.

“I think there’s guys in the past who have put a whole organization on their back and let it ride,†said veteran outfielder George Springer. “There are times when it takes every single guy in that locker room. I don’t think there’s a singular human who can propel a team to win every single game. It takes everybody. There’s individual moments throughout the course of a game that contribute to the success of a team.â€

“For us as a team, I don’t think anybody thinks about that. I don’t think anybody cares about that. It’s about the name on the front and not the name on the back.â€

“I think we’re kind of not really talking about Varsho’s day at the plate, kind of ho-hum, a couple doubles, a couple homers,†Schneider said.

In the win, which gave Toronto a 2-0 lead in the series, Varsho went 4-for-5 with — like Schneider said — a pair of doubles and a pair of homers, obliterating the clubâ€s postseason total-base record with 12. He had the fifth multihomer game in Blue Jays postseason history.

It was one of many big days on the Blue Jays’ side of things.

“He’s been phenomenal,†Schneider added. “I wish we had him the entire year — his numbers would be off the charts. It’s a tough assignment to go in against Max Fried, and you feel a little bit better when you know a guy’s convicted in a specific approach and looking for some pitches and knowing what his swing does against certain pitches. It’s not easy to do what he’s doing, but just a phenomenal day from him.â€

Varsho and infielder Ernie Clement combined for seven RBIs in the win, illustrating the clubâ€s M.O. perfectly. Anybody can step up at any time. But sometimes, itâ€s everybody.

Clementâ€s second-inning two-run homer got the scoring started, giving rookie starter Trey Yesavage breathing room in an electric environment in Toronto.

The crowd at the Rogers Centre was already reeling after Aaron Judge botched a play in the right-field corner, allowing Varsho to reach third for his first hit of the day. Clementâ€s home run would have blown the roof off the place if it hadnâ€t already been open.

In a game where Yesavage buried the Yankees†offense for most of the day and Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched a grand slam to fully break the game open, it was Clement that got the scoring started with his first postseason hit.

“I don’t remember anything,†Clement said. “I totally blacked out. I honestly don’t know what I was doing. I looked like an idiot, but it is what it is. … I had to walk back into the clubhouse and kind of gather myself because my heart was beating so fast — I was so excited. Had to reel it back in and then finish the ballgame.â€

The Blue Jays continued to pour on runs all day, even staving off a mild Yankees comeback attempt in the late innings. And ultimately, the 12-0 lead the Blue Jays built after five innings was too much to overcome.

Torontoâ€s 23 runs in Games 1 and 2 of this ALDS are the most scored in the first two games of a single postseason.

“I think everybody’s just playing a part of it,†Varsho told FS1’s John Smoltz postgame. “There could be one guy that does really well for the night. As a group, we couldn’t just rely on Bo [Bichette], Vladdy, George to do that for the whole season. If you look at the whole season, there were a bunch of guys that had big moments. We kind of all trusted each other and trusted ourselves to go out there and go play every game like we know how to do.â€

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