Vladimir Guerrero Jr. breaks out as Blue Jays gain ground in AL Wild Card race

A week ago, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was hearing boos at Rogers Centre, where he still hasn’t hit a home run in 2026. For a franchise star in the middle of a tense Wild Card race while having the worst season of his career, the frustration was understandable. But in the bigger picture there was still some hope that he could get hot at some point. Fans felt that he was still capable of changing the tone of the conversation with one loud night at the plate for the Toronto Blue Jays.

That night finally arrived Wednesday in Cleveland, where Guerrero teed off on Guardians pitching and helped power the Blue Jays to a massive 11-0 win over the team they are trying to overtake in the Wild Card chase.

The night began with Guerrero hitting a double — his 22nd of the year — off the wall in centre field to cash in Brett Bateman for an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. He smoked the ball at 105.9 mph and it went 407 feet, meaning it likely would have been a home run in plenty of other ballparks, but the 19-foot wall at Progressive Field did its job for the home team.

However, in his next at-bat, there may not have been a wall in Cleveland — or maybe anywhere in baseball — that could have contained Guerrero’s next hit. In the second inning, with two on and two outs, Guerrero completely tattooed an 80.6 mph curveball from Joey Cantillo. He launched the ball at 107.8 mph with a launch angle of 37 degrees. Statcast says it only travelled 406 feet to the pull side, two feet shorter than his line-drive double, but it sure looked like a ball that still hasn’t landed.

It was Guerrero’s first home run since Aug. 8, and it came at the perfect time. More than just ending a drought, the towering three-run shot to right field gave the Blue Jays the kind of middle-of-the-order thunder they have been waiting on. By the time Guerrero left the field, the reception had changed completely. Instead of the boos that followed him in Toronto, Blue Jays fans in Cleveland sent him off with “Vladdy” chants.

Vladimir Guerrero supplied the offense while Dylan Cease cruised on the mound

That put the Blue Jays up 6-0 and even though it was only the second inning, with Dylan Cease on the mound, it already felt like things had gotten late early for the Guardians. Cease finished his night after cruising through six innings. He managed four strikeouts while giving up four hits, but he didn’t walk anyone and didn’t allow a run to cross the plate.

It does stop Cease's streak of at least 7 Ks in 19 consecutive starts, but it also drops his road ERA to 1.67, while holding opponents to a .150 batting average against and a 0.94 WHIP. He's also allowed just one earned run in his last six road starts. It's another performance that should push him to the top of the Cy Young award conversation.

Meantime, Vladdy kept things going at the plate. He added an RBI single in the sixth inning, giving him 1,200 hits for his career. It rounded out a 3-for-4 night with a run scored and five RBIs. It was also Guerrero’s first game with at least five RBIs since June 29, 2024, another reminder of how much damage he can still do when his timing and approach line up at the plate.

More importantly for the Blue Jays, the quality of the at-bats matched the box score. These looked like some of Guerrero’s best, most complete swings in a long while, with his double, home run and RBI single all pointing to a hitter who was seeing the ball well and driving it with authority.

The Blue Jays improved to 69-71, moving to within 1.5 games of the Guardians (70-69) for the final Wild Card spot. They are also tied with the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles with identical records.

One game does not erase the inconsistency that led to the boos in the first place, but it does offer the Blue Jays something they badly needed: a reminder that Guerrero can change the game almost by himself. If this version of Vladdy shows up more often down the stretch, Toronto’s Wild Card push suddenly looks a lot more dangerous.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow