USATSI
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added to his home run tally and lore early and often on Wednesday night against the New York Yankees (GameTracker).
Guerrero, who started the night with a .263/.300/.421 (102 OPS+) home run in his first 20 plate appearances, gave the Blue Jays an early lead with a solo blaster in the first inning. Initially it appeared he was limited to a double, which was used by midfielder Aaron Hicks after hitting off the wall. The umpires then deliberated and ruled that Guerrero’s batted ball had passed the wall before bouncing onto the pitch. Just look:
Hicks and Guerrero would be intertwined again an inning later. At this point, Hicks achieved an infield single. The most notable aspect of Hicks’ base knock was accidentally stepping on Guerrero’s bare hand, which he had placed on the foul line to steady himself and retrieve the throw back. We’ll spare you the picture, but rest assured Guerrero’s hand was bloody from Hick’s cleats. He retired to the Blue Jays’ dugout for medical attention.
Although it would have been reasonable to see Guerrero leave for the night to get X-rays or stitches, or just out of caution, he stayed in the game. Then he did something to prove to everyone that he was in good shape: he hit another home run, his second of the night and his third of the season.
Guerrero’s first home run by Gerrit Cole covered 416 feet with an exit speed of 109 mph. His second went 427 feet, again with an exit speed of 109 mph. For those wondering – and remember that matchup stats are best used in a descriptive, not predictive manner – Guerrero started the night after hitting .278/.381/.333 with an extra base hit in 21 Trips to the Plate against Cole had hit .
The damage Guerrero inflicted on the Yankees’ pitching staff wasn’t just limited to Cole, either. He added his third home run of the game in the eighth inning.
That gave Guerrero a 4-for-4 night with the three homers and four RBI. Just like that, he scored .391/.417/.957 in the season. His Hall of Famer father watched and approved of the big night.
This was the eighth multi-homer game for a player in 2022, but it was the first three-home run game of the season. There were 14 three-homer games last season, including one by Guerrero on April 27 against the Nationals.