TORONTO – A few hours or so after Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier let it slip that he plans to retire, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. let it be known to the baseball world he has no plans to put his current hot streak out to pasture.
Guerrero slammed his fifth homer in six games and knocked in another run in the Blue Jays 6-3 win against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.
“I can tell you it’s been great and it’s not over yet,” Guerrero said when asked if this was the best two-week stretch of his career.
The 25-year-old Guerrero agreed he has been at his best recently. He’s been patient at the plate, waiting for his pitch, and his confidence has been at an all-time high.
“Things are going my way now,” he said. “I’m hitting the ball hard and I’m connecting. I’m looking for the right pitch now. I think that’s the big difference.”
In the last 24 games, Guerrero has hit .351 (34 for 97) with nine doubles, 10 homers and 31 RBIs.
“Every single at-bat he just feels so dangerous,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “A lot of it revolves around how you’re going to pitch Vlad.
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“He’s starting to understand to narrow his focus into pitches that he can really hammer.”
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While the 34-year-old Kiermaier never enjoyed an offensive surge like his Blue Jays teammate, he was a defensive gem with four gold-glove seasons.
Before the game, the former Rays outfielder was interviewed by the Tampa Bay Times. The last question he was asked was about his future.
“I was just being honest,” Kiermaier said. “This may have caught some off guard, but I’m at peace with my decision. My body has been talking to me more than ever this season.”
Kiermaier remarked that playing 10 seasons in Tampa and Toronto on artificial turf has taken its toll.
Before arriving on the Blue Jays doorstep last season he was a thorn in Toronto’s side with his defence and speed at the plate.
“Watching him play on the other side, he was a guy who was easy to hate,” Schneider said. “He was a real pain in the ass.
“Knowing him as a player, a husband and a father over the last year-and-a-half in the clubhouse, he’s the ultimate professional. He’s meant a lot to this group. He’s probably one of the best centre-fielders of this era for the last 10 years or so.”
Kiermaier and his wife are expecting the couple’s third child (a girl) in December.
After the Rays intentionally walked Guerrero to put runners on first and second, back-to-back RBI singles with two out from Justin Turner and Daulton Varsho were enough to spark a four-run eighth inning.
The Blue Jays (46-55) win squared the three-game series with Tampa Bay (51-51) at a win apiece.
The Blue Jays enjoyed their second win in five games since the MLB All-Star break before 32,276 at Rogers Centre.
A Ben Rortvedt double brought in the final run in the ninth inning for the Rays.
Toronto starter Yariel Rodriguez retired the first 12 Rays in order. Randy Arozarena broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff double down the right-field line in the fifth inning.
He scored on a single from Josh Lowe that snuck under the glove of a diving Guerrero.
Rodriguez, a 27-year-old rookie, went 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts, giving up a run on two hits and a walk. That walk to Richie Palacios scored the tying run in the sixth inning.
Lefty reliever Brendon Little also walked Brandon Lowe with two out. Arozarena cashed in Palacios with a hard-hit single to left.
Blue Jays reliever Genesis Cabrera (3-2) registered the win for his two-strikeout eighth inning.
Rays starter Zach Eflin also went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts.
ON DECK
Chris Bassitt (8-8) will start for the Blue Jays in the finale of the three-game set against Tampa on Thursday afternoon. The Rays will counter with righty Taj Bradley (5-4).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press