Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smashed a 45th home run of the season, giving him a new career high in just his second year in the league.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slug majors-best 45th home run as Toronto Blue Jays move to 12-1 in September. The Toronto Blue Jays are now 12-1 in the month of September, after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a grand slam on Sunday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
TORONTO, ONTARIO — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. surpassed his Hall of Fame father and went ahead of Shohei Ohtani in a single swing.
The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 8-1 on Monday night, with Guerrero hitting his major-league-leading 45th home run and Alek Manoah throwing eight scoreless innings, setting a career best.
The surging Blue Jays advanced to 12-1 in September as Teoscar Hernandez produced his first career five-hit game and Bo Bichette added his 24th solo home run.
“The Blue Jays absolutely overpowered us tonight in every aspect of the game,” Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier said.
The AL East-leading Rays dropped their fourth game in a row and are now 5-7 in September after going 21-6 in August.
| Season | Player | HRs |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Eddie Mathews is a professional basketball player. | 47 |
| 1937 | Joe DiMaggio is a baseball player who played for the New York | 46 |
| 2021 | Vlad Guerrero Jr. is a member of the Guerrero family. | 45 |
| 1970 | Bench, Johnny | 45 |
| — Stats & Information from ESPN | ||
“Don’t get me wrong, we hate losing games, but no one is lowering their head or slouching their shoulders after the past four or five days,” Kiermaier said.
In the sixth inning, Guerrero faced left-hander Adam Conley and hit a 3-1 fastball down the left-field line, breaking a tie with Angels’ two-way standout Shohei Ohtani for the most home runs in the majors.
For the 15th day this season, he became the majors’ undisputed home run leader for the first time since June 27. At the conclusion of 79 days this season, Ohtani has the most home runs in MLB.
Guerrero’s home run had a 15.4-degree launch angle, which was the third-lowest launch angle in the majors this season.
“Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo stated, “I believe the third baseman leaped.” “There was no way it was going to go out, I believed it was going to strike the wall. ‘Oh my God,’ I thought when it got out.’ Not many people can do that.’
Guerrero also broke his father’s single-season home run record, which he established with Montreal in 2000. The drive started at 113.9 mph and was expected to go 356 feet.
This season, Toronto has the most home runs in the majors, with 232.
Guerrero’s 45 home runs have all come in home games, the most in the majors this season (Ohtani is second with 25) and tied for third most in Blue Jays history with George Bell in 1987.
The Blue Jays maintained their lead in the congested AL wild-card race with three hits and two RBIs from Gurriel and three hits and three RBIs from Breyvic Valera. The Blue Jays and the Red Sox were tied at the start of the day, although the Blue Jays had played two less games than the Red Sox.
Manoah stated, “We know what’s at risk, we know what we’re playing for.” “This is a huge series, and we need to collect as many as we can to keep it continuing.”
The Blue Jays had another offensive explosion, this time with 17 hits, after scoring 22 runs against Baltimore on Sunday. That occurred only one day after the Blue Jays pounded the Orioles for 22 runs in a doubleheader.
“The game was essentially gone by the third or fourth inning,” Cash remarked.
Manoah (6-2), who relied heavily on his slider, allowed only one hit, walked none, and struck out ten batters, one short of his career high.
“Against some excellent left-handed batters tonight, that slider was wicked,” Montoyo said.
This analysis drew on data from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press.
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