Watch: Guardians' Daniel Schneemann plays hero with grand slam

Cleveland Guardians second baseman Daniel Schneemann (10) celebrates hitting a grand slam home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning at Rogers Centre. Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

Watch: Guardians' Daniel Schneemann plays hero with two-out grand slam

By Eric Smithling | Last updated May 3, 2025 7:28 PM ET

The Cleveland Guardians were down to their final out against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday when second baseman Daniel Schneemann played the role of hero.

Trailing 3-1, Schneeman hit a two-out grand slam, drilling a 95 mph four-seam fastball 395 feet off of Blue Jays reliever Yimi Garcia. Cleveland closed out the game in the bottom half of the ninth for a 5-3 win.

Daniel Schneemann's 2nd home run of the day is a GRAND SLAM to take the lead in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/PuVyuvhy4Y
— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2025

Per Baseball Savant, the ball had an exit velocity of 111.2 mph and would have been a home run in all 30 MLB ballparks. It was Scheeman's hardest hit of the season, surpassing a single on April 28 off Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober that had a 107.1 mph exit velocity.

Schneeman drove in all five on Cleveland's runs, also hitting a solo home run in the eighth, making Saturday his first multi-home run game and also his first with a grand slam.

Selected in the 33rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Schneeman spent five seasons in the Cleveland farm system before being called up in 2024, when he appeared in 73 games.

His late-game heroics on Saturday are part of a broader trend from the Guardians. Cleveland had two walk-off wins in its last series, a three-game sweep of the Twins.

THATS A WALK OFF GUARDIANS WINNER pic.twitter.com/jbTwkhvY1d
— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) May 1, 2025

KYLE MANZARDO WALKS IT OFF FOR THE GUARDIANS!!! pic.twitter.com/GpnLvfzzCG
— Baseball’s Office (@baseballsoffice) April 30, 2025

The Guardians (19-14) are making a habit of coming up with clutch late-game hits. On Saturday, Schneeman joined a growing club.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

More must-reads: