TORONTO — In the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday, a breaking ball high and inside was called a strike and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. turned into The Incredible Hulk.
Guerrero jumped into the air, turned and stomped out of the box, well beyond the dirt cutout and towards his own dugout. When he turned and walked back, the count now at 2-2, he slammed his bat down on the plate, almost daring the pitcher to throw to him.
The next pitch? He hit that harder than any other ball in the game, smoking a double over the head of the center fielder that sent the stadium into a frenzy. You won’t like Vladdy when he’s angry — well, maybe you will.
Three batters later, following singles from Bo Bichette and Raimel Tapia, Teoscar Hernández became the walk-off hero of the 6-5 win, bouncing a ball through the left side of the Royals’ infield. By the time Hernández rounded first, arms stretched into the air, the Blue Jays were already swarming him, jerseys being torn off as water sprayed over the celebrating mass of bodies.
Hernández has been on a heater lately, rediscovering the power stroke that made him a Silver Slugger Award winner in each of the past two seasons, but it was Guerrero who changed the entire energy of this game. Prior to his double, the Blue Jays had made a pair of tough outs on the bases in the late innings, their aggression getting the best of them, but Guerrero took his frustrations and channeled them into the game-changing moment.
“That’s who he is. You don’t really see him show that much frustration,” said interim manager John Schneider, “but in that moment it may have been a good thing for him. He’s a stud.”
Guerrero hadn’t walked in his last 17 games, a baffling number for a hitter whose plate discipline has been just as impressive as his power for much of his career. The 23-year-old simply hasn’t been himself of late, which has been evident in some frustrations along the way, but this time was different.
Hernández had the big moment in the bottom of the 10th, but a quiet conversation earlier in the day might have set this whole thing up.
“He was just thinking too much,” Hernández explained after the win, celebration music still pulsing out of the clubhouse behind him. “Today, I talked to him and told him to have fun, be you, go out there and do your thing like you know how to do it. Today, we saw the results. When he hit that double, it fired up the whole team.”
This win encapsulates all of the beauty and headaches that could come with this Blue Jays team down the stretch. They plan to be more aggressive, which showed when Alejandro Kirk was lifted in the seventh for pinch-runner Bradley Zimmer, who was picked off seconds later. In the very next inning, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was thrown out trying to steal second to end the frame. This aggression can be thrilling to watch when it works, but is painful when it doesn’t.
When this Blue Jays lineup does what it’s capable of, though, it’s must-see TV. This is what we saw for much of 2021, when Toronto led the league in OPS and Guerrero finished second only to Shohei Ohtani in AL MVP voting. That’s what this team needs again.
Hernández is still one of the game’s more underrated power hitters when he’s on, which he certainly is now. George Springer is an elite leadoff man. Alejandro Kirk might be the best offensive catcher in the Majors for years to come. Still, with all of these names in the lineup, Guerrero is the one with the ability to put the team on his back and carry it.
This Blue Jays squad doesn’t need a miracle, either. They just need a few more days like Saturday.
“We have a lot of confidence in the spot that we’re in right now,” Hernández said. “I think we’re in a good spot. If the season ends today, we’re in the playoffs. We don’t have that pressure. We’re just playing our game and trying to keep winning.”
Sunday brings an opportunity to take the series from the Royals and enter the All-Star break in a far calmer place than earlier this week following the dismissal of Charlie Montoyo. Nothing about Saturday’s win was smooth, but if the sleeping giant of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. truly wakes up, the Blue Jays will follow him.