George Springer hits 21st postseason homer, passes Derek Jeter and is 5th on career list

TORONTO (AP) — Toronto’s George Springer homered on the first pitch from Seattle’s Bryce Miller in the AL Championship Series opener on Sunday, moving past the New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter into sole possession of fifth place on the career list with his 21st postseason home run.

Springer’s 385-foot drive to right field on a fastball at the outside corner put Toronto ahead with the first postseason leadoff home run in Blue Jays history. Springer has 63 leadoff homers in the regular season, second to Rickey Henderson’s record 81.

“I was just kind of looking for something to hit,” Springer said following Toronto’s 3-1 defeat. “It wasn’t anything specific.”

Manny Ramirez hit a record 29 postseason homers and is trailed by Jose Altuve (27), Kyle Schwarber (23) and Bernie Williams (22).

Seattle has won three of four games at Toronto this year.

“Everybody knows obviously what we need to do,” Springer said. “If some balls falls, obviously it’s a little bit of a different story.”

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