What kind of difference can a 6-foot, 245-pound hitter make in a postseason showdown?
We’re about to see it firsthand, now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has entered the American League Championship Series.
Vladdy dominated Game 3 — crushing a double that nearly pierced the left-field fence, clearing Julio Rodríguez’s outstretched arm with a homer, and drilling a gapper to right-center that nearly gave him a triple and a playoff cycle.
Vladdy was a soothsayer, pulling aside No. 9 hitter Andrés Giménez before the game and telling the light-hitting shortstop, “You’re going to go yard today.”
Four Guerrero hits – just a triple shy of the cycle – and a 13-4 throttling of Seattle later, they exit in far better shape.
Guerrero is now 13-for-28 (.464) with four home runs, 10 RBIs and just one strikeout in this postseason. And the Blue Jays are now trailing just 2-1 in this ALCS, thanks to one swing and one superstar.
Suddenly, Toronto could not be contained, as Giménez’s blast started a five-run eruption, the rally re-started when Guerrero seared a 105-mph liner into the left field wall, a wild pitch and a Daulton Varsho two-run double eventually providing a 5-2 lead.
Amazingly, it all started with Giménez simply wanting to move Ernie Clement to third base with a grounder to the right side. He got a little more of Kirby’s fastball than that.
