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Instant Reaction: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s big night powers the Blue Jays to victory
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Photo credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Sep 2, 2026, 21:25 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays bounced back in a big way on Wednesday night.
After dropping the opening game of the series against the Cleveland Guardians 6-1, in which they were limited to three hits, the Blue Jays responded by banging out 15 hits en route to an 11-0 victory. 
The win improves the Blue Jays’ record to 69-71 through 140 games and pulls them to 1.5 games back of the Guardians for the American League’s final Wild Card spot. 
After being held hitless in the series opener, Brett Bateman kick-started the offence by jumping on the first pitch of the game from Guardians starter Joey Cantillo for a single. With one out, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drilled a curveball that came off his bat at 105.9 MPH for a double that brought home Bateman to make it a 1-0 game. 
After Dylan Cease worked a scoreless first frame, the Blue Jays were aided by some sloppy Guardians defence in the top of the second inning. With the bases loaded and two out, Cantillo got George Springer to roll over a ground ball to shortstop Angel Genao, which looked like it was going to end the inning.
Fortunately for the Blue Jays, Genao’s throw to second baseman Travis Bazzana sailed over his head into right field to bring home both Andrés Giménez and Myles Straw to give the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead. 
One batter later, the error proved even more costly as Guerrero once again slammed Cantillo’s curveball, this time driving it 406 feet over the left field wall for a three-run home run that extended the Blue Jays’ lead to 6-0. The homer was Guerrero’s first since August 8 in Philadelphia and raised his season total to eight through 125 games. 
While much of the 2026 season has been a disappointment, especially following last year’s playoff showing, Guerrero has the opportunity to change the course of this season if he can put together one very strong month that propels the Blue Jays into the postseason. 
Straw and Springer tacked on RBI doubles of their own before Guerrero returned to inflict more damage on the Guardians. This time against reliever Carlos Hernández, Guerrero roped a line drive to left field to bring home Springer and make it a 9-0 game.
Guerrero was replaced by Sean Keys to begin the bottom of the seventh inning after going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs. For the season, Guerrero is now batting .262 and has driven in 53 runs across 470 at-bats while reaching base at a .333 clip. 
After entering the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the seventh, Josh Smith launched a 97.8 MPH fastball from Hernández 392 feet over the right centre field wall for his fourth home run of the season and third in 31 at-bats with the Blue Jays since being acquired from the Texas Rangers. 
The Blue Jays’ offence made it easy for Cease, who cruised through six shutout innings. The 30-year-old turned in a pitching line of 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K and needed only 83 pitches (56 strikes) to get through his six frames. 
Locked into a Cy Young battle with New York Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler, Cease has now made 26 starts and is 10-5 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. The right-hander has now struck out 221 batters across 156.1 innings pitched and has held opponents to a .176 average during that span. 
Following Cease’s departure, the Blue Jays used Paul Sewald, Brendon Little and Braydon Fisher to shut down the Guardians. 
The Blue Jays will send right-hander José Soriano to the mound in the rubber match on Thursday while the Guardians will counter with fellow righty Tanner Bibee. 
First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET at Progressive Field. 
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