Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Sparks 6-5 Blue Jays Rally | Toronto Blue Jays Vs Baltimore Orioles Match Player Stats
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. turned toronto blue jays vs baltimore orioles match player stats into a comeback story, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs as Toronto beat Baltimore 6-5 on Friday at Camden Yards. The Blue Jays erased a 5-0 deficit and got back to 29-29.
Guerrero Jr. breaks through
Guerrero Jr. lined a double into left field in the eighth inning off a Yennier Cano fastball, and the ball came off the bat at 110.1 m.p.h. It was the swing that gave Toronto the lead after the club had spent most of the night chasing.
“It was not just that double,” Guerrero Jr. said through interpreter Hector Lebron after the game. “It was that I could do something to help my team win the game.”
He had led off the seventh with a single before the rally gathered force. That sequence started the inning that changed the game.
McAdoo and Okamoto ignite
Kazuma Okamoto cut into the deficit with a two-run homer off Trevor Rogers in the seventh, and Daulton Varsho followed with a double. Charles McAdoo then pulled a two-run, opposite-field homer for his first major-league hit in his debut, after being called up from triple-A on Thursday when Lenyn Sosa went on the injured list.
“My heart dropped as soon as I hit it because I was like, ‘It has a chance. It has a chance,’” McAdoo said. “And then I saw it clear the wall.”
McAdoo also said, “My heart was beating pretty fast the majority of the day,” then added, “But after that first swing, kind of just settled down and realized and remembered that it was just a game I've been playing since I was young.”
Toronto bullpen bends
Toronto needed all of it because the Blue Jays trailed 5-0 entering the seventh and were using Adam Macko as the starter in the club’s first of two bullpen games in three days. Austin Voth then absorbed the heaviest damage on the mound, allowing three homers and four walks before the offense bailed out the staff.
Manager John Schneider called Guerrero Jr.’s swing “a big swing for him against a really tough reliever,” then added, “Yeah, that's Vlad right there.” The lineup had already been short-handed in the bullpen, with Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman and Tyler Rogers unavailable after each pitched in the previous two days.
Guerrero Jr. said the only thing that mattered after the win was simple: “The only thing I know is if we're winning games, that means we're doing good.” Toronto had not been at.500 since April 4, and Friday’s finish pushed the club to its fourth straight win and eight victories in its last 10.
