Leading off the eighth inning for Toronto Blue Jays in their game on Wednesday against the New York Yankees, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was already having a big game. With one swing, he made it bigger.
Guerrero, who already had three hits, including a home run in the first and third innings, launched his third longball of the night. He didn’t wait around, either, taking the first offering from Jonathan Loáisiga over the left-field wall.
Guerrero is one of baseball’s brightest young superstars. Him exceling on any stage is going to be noticed. Him dominating MLB’s highest profile team is going to catch the attention of even more people.
That was the case on Wednesday night.
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The Yankees pitching staff was othewise strong against the potent Blue Jays offense on the evening. Guerrero accounted for three of Toronto’s six runs and four of its eight hits. Fortunately for the Blue Jays, his contributions did count.
Toronto defeated New York 6-4. Fittingly enough, the game’s final out was recorded by Guerrero when he snagged a line drive from Josh Donaldson.
Guerrero had yet to break out on the season. He entered Wednesday’s game with only one home run and was hitting .263/.300/.421. Those numbers look a lot better now. After Wednesday, he has four home runs with a .391/.417/.957 slash line. Guerrero heating up is ideal for the Blue Jays. For their future opposing pitchers — not so much.