Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays are American League Championship Series-bound.
On Wednesday evening, the Blue Jays closed out their best-of-five American League Division Series with a dominant Game 4 victory, a lopsided 5-2 final over the New York Yankees for a 3-1 series win.
Entering the ALDS as the two closest ranked teams among the four divisional series (both were 94-68 on the season), Toronto really took it to New York, dominating the opening two games at Rogers Centre by scores of 10-1 and 13-7, becoming the first team in MLB history to record 23 total runs in its first two postseason games.
They jumped ahead 6-1 in Game 3, but ultimately fell short thanks to a strong rally from a crowd-supported Yankees team. The Jays did not skip a beat, however, and stormed back with the 5-2 series clincher on Wednesday, punching their ticket to the American League final.
Leading the way for a battered and bruised Blue Jays team was Guerrero Jr. With star shortstop Bo Bichette missing in action due to a lower-body injury, Toronto relied on Guerrero’s power at the plate through the four-game series. Also down starting pitchers Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, and Jose Berrios, as well as first baseman Ty France, Vladdy and the Jays will hope to have at least a few of their injured teammates back in action come Sunday’s ALCS opener.
Guerrero Jr. became the first player in MLB history to record nine hits and nine RBIs within the first four games of a single MLB postseason. He finished the series with three home runs and five runs scored, including a dramatic grand slam in Game 2, to which he and his father, Vladimir Guerrero, became the first father-son duo to record postseason grand slams.
Vladdy’s .529 batting average and 1.609 on-base plus slugging statistics through four games are completely off the charts. Now, he will await the winner of the Seattle Mariners/Detroit Tigers best-of-five series to see where Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS will be hosted. Either way, Canadians will find a way to infiltrate the opposition’s ballpark in hopes of resembling a home-like atmosphere for their beloved Blue Jays.
Catching up with Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae immediately postgame amid the locker room champagne showers, Guerrero Jr. took a moment to uplift his faith on the grandest of stages.
After teammates shouted out excited profanity-laced tirades live on air, the Jays’ 500-million-dollar man humbly showed the millions of Canadians tuning in from coast to coast the true power of prayer.
The camera cut to Guerrero, who had earlier been shown looking skyward and mouthing a few phrases following the final out. He doubled down and provided Mae with commentary on his immediate reaction to the win.
“I mean, I was just praying,” Guerrero reflected. “I was giving God the thank-you. You know, ‘Thank-you for this.’ To me, we all believe in each other, and we all believe that good things are going to happen when you believe in God.”
Game 4 was the only game of the series in which Guerrero actually did not score on a home run. He did, however, drive in a run on a long single in the early stages that saw George Springer cross home plate to open the scoring in the top of the first.
“We’ve wanted to win a World Series our entire careers,” Bichette said after the game. “We’re not there yet, but this is a huge step. It’s a blessing to be part of this group.”
Both Vladdy and Bo have spent the better part of their lives immersed in baseball. Guerrero Jr. did so by signing as a 16-year-old kid in 2015. The following year, Bichette was drafted, and they have grown up through the organization ever since. Both players have been pillars of faith throughout the years—some good and some bad.
Wednesday’s victory marked the furthest that either player has made it with the Jays, as the team proceeds to the ALCS for the first time in nine seasons. And it does so on the backs of eight different pitchers in what was dubbed a “bullpen game” due to injuries to the starting rotation.
“I see it all the time,” Guerrero said when asked about the contributions that came from throughout the lineup. “We believe in each other. And when they say, ‘This is going to be our bullpen,’ I say to the guys, ‘One pitch at a time, one inning at a time,’ and thank God we did it today.”
“It feels amazing. It feels amazing. I don’t have words to explain how I feel right now,” Guerrero Jr. laughed before running off to join teammates in the festivities.
About
