It’s been a great week for the Toronto Blue Jays offence, and leading the charge in the lineup has been Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who drove in six runs in a 9-3 win for the Jays over the New York Yankees.
Guerrero Jr. homered to centre field in the first, his third straight game leaving the yard, putting the Jays on top 2-0.
The first baseman cleared the bases in the sixth inning on a pitch basically at the dirt, going down the 3rd baseline to put the Jays up by six at that point. Certainly, his dad, Vladimir Guerrero would be proud of that kind of hitting, considering he was known to get hits on pitches way out of the zone.
Guerrero Jr. wasn’t done just yet, in the eighth inning he hit a single off Yankees closer Clay Homes, sealing Toronto’s eventual victory.
After his three-hit performance today, Guerrero Jr. is now 15 for his last 29, bringing his OPS to .842.
As mentioned previously, Toronto’s offence has been hot lately. Over the last seven days, the Blue Jays are 2nd in MLB for runs (42), 3rd in average (.302), and 3rd in home runs (11).
Isiah Kiner-Falefa is also on his own hot streak, collecting four hits in the game, including driving in a run in the sixth. Kiner-Falefa has now accumulated the most wins above replacement in a season (3.0), and is also on track for the highest OPS+ in his career (114+ OPS).
Alejandro Kirk drove in the other two runs and has hits in his last three starts. Kirk could see more playing time, as Danny Jansen is going through a 2 for 20 slump, hitting just .136 over his last 44 at-bats.
Between Yankees SP Nestor Cortes and Phil Bickford, eight runs were charged for the two pitches over 5.0 innings. Cortes has now allowed six earned runs over his last two starts and made his 2nd shortest outing of the season today.
As for Toronto’s SP, Chris Bassitt went 6.0 innings, allowing only one run an Aaron Judge single in the fourth, and struck out eight Yankees batters.
Bassitt’s outing gave Toronto a chance to rest some relievers after having to use five in Friday’s game.
Regarding Toronto’s relievers, the Jays made a roster move today as Tim Mayza was designated for assignment and Jose Cuas was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.
Mayza had been with Toronto since making his MLB debut in 2017 but was struggling in 2024, posting an 8.03 ERA over 24 2/3 innings. Mayza had a stellar year in 2023, with a career ERA of 1.52. It’s likely the LHP will be claimed off waivers and given another chance with a ballclub.
Toronto also has shut down closer Jordan Romano after the RHP felt elbow discomfort on Saturday. Romano likely will be placed on the injured list, and it’s not clear how long he will be out.
On a more positive note, Toronto has the chance to win their first series in two weeks over the 53-32 New York Yankees and still sits 6.5 games out of a playoff spot, which was a similar spot when they started their six-game losing streak.
