Vladimir Guerrero Jr. delivered a tying and go-ahead double with an 110.1 mph swing as the Toronto Blue Jays erased a 5-0 deficit to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 at Camden Yards.
BALTIMORE — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stood at second base, clenched his fists and let out a roar that carried the weight of a long stretch of frustration.
It didn’t feel like a routine hit. In the eighth inning, Guerrero Jr. drilled a double into left field that scored the tying and go-ahead runs. turning the Toronto Blue Jays’ comeback into something you could measure in swings and momentum. The Blue Jays finished a dramatic recovery with a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
The moment mattered not just because of the timing, but because of how the ball came off the bat. Guerrero Jr. launched an 110.1-m.p.h. drive off a Yennier Cano fastball, easily his most important contribution in some time.
For Toronto, the win pulled the team back toward balance. The Blue Jays improved to .500 for the first time since April 4.
They had to start climbing from an ugly hole. The Blue Jays trailed 5-0 entering the seventh inning, down and facing what looked like a late-night collapse.
Then the offense finally found its rhythm.
Guerrero Jr. led off the seventh with a single, and Kazuma Okamoto followed with a two-run home run off Orioles starter Trevor Rogers. Daulton Varsho doubled, and Charles McAdoo cut the deficit further with a two-run, opposite-field shot that swung the game in a hurry.
That homer by McAdoo carried an extra layer of drama: it was his first hit in what was his major-league debut.
On the mound, Adam Macko started for Toronto during the club’s first of two bullpen games in three days, with the next coming Sunday. Macko pitched into the second inning before Austin Voth came in.
Voth’s outing started to unravel quickly. He surrendered three homers and four walks to Baltimore, and the Orioles built the 5-0 lead that put Toronto in survival mode.
By Friday night, the Blue Jays were without three of their best relievers — Louis Varland, Jeff Hoffman and Tyler Rogers — because each had pitched the past two days. That created a real opening for others in the bullpen, and it was one Mason Fluharty and Braydon Fisher did not waste.
Fluharty shut down the Orioles in the eighth inning, keeping the comeback alive just long enough for the Blue Jays to finish the job with their late lead. Fisher then took the mound in the ninth and delivered a scoreless frame to earn the first save of his major-league career.
In the end, the final line hid the turbulence that got Toronto there. The Blue Jays dug themselves into a hole. lost key bullpen options. watched Baltimore surge early. and still found a late swing-off-the-bat answer — anchored by Guerrero Jr.’s roar at second base and the power behind his 110.1-m.p.h. hit.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays Baltimore Orioles Camden Yards Yennier Cano Trevor Rogers Charles McAdoo Kazuma Okamoto Daulton Varsho Mason Fluharty Braydon Fisher