Jeff Hoffman turned toward center field inside Toronto’s Rogers Centre and raised both arms straight into the air. The journeyman pitcher, the scrap-heap reliever who made himself into one of the better bullpen pieces in baseball starting in 2023, had just fired the biggest pitch of his life: an 88 mph slider to strike out Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez and send the Blue Jays to the World Series. Hoffman spun back toward catcher Alejandro Kirk and embraced him before the mob fully formed.
In Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, the right-hander Hoffman was called upon to pitch the top of the ninth inning.