Blue Jays' Addison Barger hits the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history

TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger launched the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history during Toronto’s 11-4 Game 1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

Batting for Davis Schneider against left-hander Anthony Banda, Barger drilled a 2-1 slider 413 feet to right-center — his third home run this postseason.

“I was choking up a little bit, just trying to put the ball in the air and get a run in in that situation,” Barger said.

Barger’s drive was the first postseason grand slam in Toronto history, and the big blow in a nine-run sixth inning that gave the Blue Jays an 11-2 lead over the defending World Series champions.

After he was told to get ready to pinch hit, Barger ran to the club’s high-tech Trajekt pitching machine to watch simulated pitches from Dodgers righty Emmet Sheehan, who was in the game at the time. He was surprised to face Banda instead.

“I know it’s a tough at-bat, left on left, but the goal was just put the barrel on the ball, hopefully hit it in the air and get the run in,” Barger said.

“I hope he doesn’t know who is pitching tomorrow,” Toronto manager John Schneider joked.

Barger hit for Davis Schneider a night after crashing on his teammate's pull-out couch. It wasn't immediately clear why Barger didn't have anywhere else to sleep.

“It was so funny,” Schneider said. “I looked over and just saw him sleeping there in the middle of the night. He’s a head case but he’s funny.”

Barger arrived at the ballpark Thursday wearing a T-shirt that read “I hit balls hard,” one he said came from a minor league hitting coach. He got another shirt after Friday’s win, a gift from Hall of Famer and Fox TV panelist David Ortiz during his appearance on the postgame show, but declined it.

“I left it,” Barger said. “It has Red Sox on it, I’m not wearing that. Are you kidding me?”

Barger also gave up cleats, donating them to the Hall of Fame.

Fellow outfielder Myles Straw agreed, calling Barger “one of the funniest guys I’ve ever played with.”

“He’s hilarious,” Straw said. “That’s what makes him who he is and that’s why we all love him. There’s no one else like him, I promise you. He’s got some loose screws, for sure.”

Alejandro Kirk added a two-run homer later in the sixth for Toronto.

It marked the third-biggest inning in World Series history. The Philadelphia Athletics scored 10 runs in the seventh against the Chicago Cubs in Game 4 in 1929, and the Detroit Tigers matched that total in the third inning of Game 6 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968.

Toronto is in the World Series for the first time since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 1993.

Barger hit 21 home runs in the regular season, his second in the majors.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger celebrates his grand slam home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger watches the ball as he hits a grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger hits a grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger watches his grand slam home run take flight as Los Angeles Dodgers' pitcher Anthony Banda, left, looks away uring the sixth inning in Game 1 of baseball's World Series, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in Toronto. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)