TORONTO — Soon after getting word that they’ll be spending the final two months of their season at home in Toronto, the Toronto Blue Jays put together the kind of offensive outburst that shows how interesting the stretch run will be when this lineup’s at full strength.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached the 30-homer plateau by hitting two of the Blue Jays’ five home runs as Toronto beat the visiting Texas Rangers 10-2 on a rainy night at the second of the three home sites the Jays will play at in 2021, Buffalo’s Sahlen Field.
With Robbie Ray on the mound, the Blue Jays began the unofficial second half of the season with their most effective pitcher of late, and by activating Ryan Borucki before first pitch, the bullpen got some welcome support, too. Of course on a night the offence was operating at full strength, there was plenty of breathing room.
The season Guerrero Jr. is having would be remarkable at any age, but what he’s doing — 30 homers with a .335/.434/.677 slash line — should really be appreciated within the context of his age.
Though he’s been around for three years now, he’s still just 22 — so young that when he homered in the All-Star Game Tuesday, he became the youngest player to do so since Johnny Bench more than half a century ago. At 22, he’s still younger than four players the Blue Jays drafted last week.
Yet here he is, making a legitimate run at the American League triple crown. That might be what it takes to make a serious MVP run during a year Shohei Ohtani is doing a convincing impression of Babe Ruth in his prime, but so far Guerrero Jr. has been up to the task. Nights like this, the talent is impossible to miss.
At the plate, Guerrero Jr. had plenty of support as Marcus Semien, Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez also homered Friday. For the moment, at least, the five home runs give the Blue Jays an MLB-leading 135 on the season.
But even on a night the offence was at its best, the pitching staff did its part too. Pitching on regular rest, Ray gave the Blue Jays 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball while striking out eight and walking just two. Because he started the Blue Jays’ final game before the All-Star break, this marked consecutive games started for Ray, whose season ERA now sits at 2.93.
After Adam Cimber recorded the final out of the seventh inning, Borucki entered for a clean eighth with two strikeouts and Jacob Barnes allowed the Rangers’ only two runs in the ninth.
Pulling the strings for those final moves was bench coach John Schneider who took over after manager Charlie Montoyo was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Greg Gibson over the timing of a replay review challenge.
With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 46-42 on the season — a small but important step for a team that must make up plenty more ground in the standings in the weeks ahead. The return to Toronto will certainly provide some welcome comfort and support for a team that last played at Rogers Centre nearly two calendar years ago.
There’s plenty of work to be done before the Blue Jays arrive home, both with respect to the roster itself in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline and the many logistics involved for players, staff and their families. But with Guerrero Jr. leading a potent offence, it’s easy to see this team’s potential, too.
