<p>Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stayed hot at the plate Friday night, continuing a tremendous tear stretching a hitting streak to 21 games as the Blue Jays beat the Athletics 3-1.</p>
<p></p>
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<p>While Jose Berrios got the start lasting seven innings, allowing one earned run off six hits and one walk, while sitting down eight batters, the offence showed up when needed.</p>
<p>It was none other than George Springer leading things off with a 421-foot home run, sending the fifth pitch he saw deep into the bleachers in left centre field, setting the tone for Friday night&#8217;s affair. Batting second, Daulton Varsho would single into left field, setting up Guerrero Jr. to come to the plate.</p>
<p>All six pitches he saw were down and away, but he got enough of a Mitch Spence slider to send it into centre field. While the Jays wouldn&#8217;t be able to cash another run in the first, Alejandro Kirk scored the game-winning run in a bottom of the sixth on a ground out, getting home Guerrero Jr. who singled shortly before. The home runs didn&#8217;t end there, as Spencer Horwitz hit his fifth home run of the season, sending a four-seam fastball into right field.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hit streak extended to 21 games and then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. does this &#8230; <a href="https://t.co/GBtjLtHQGR">pic.twitter.com/GBtjLtHQGR</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/1822070637977907489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The story of the game, however, was another big night from Guerrero Jr. Stretching his hitting streak to 21, he now falls one game short of tying his previous career-high hitting streak, when between July 15th, 2022 and August 13th of that year, he slashed .374/.424/.582 for a 1.007 OPS. He notched 34 hits over that 22-game run, three of which were home runs.</p>
<p>This time around? Things are a bit different. He&#8217;s slashing .514/.580/1.095 for a staggering 1.675 OPS with a staggering 10 home runs.</p>
<p>His streak isn&#8217;t just about him regaining form as one of the game&#8217;s best hitters, as he put on full display during 2021, but it&#8217;s about him further cementing his legacy as one of the best Blue Jays in franchise history. Of the 16 players who have had 20+ game-hitting streaks, few have done what Vladdy has.</p>
<p>In fact, only two had double-digit home runs over their streaks: Shawn Green, who had a franchise record 28-game streak in 1999, hitting 12 home runs and slashing .366/.434/.750 for a 1.184 OPS, while totalling 84 bases, and Edwin Encarnacion, who had a 26-game streak in 2015. The latter hit 11 home runs, slashing .412/.474/.876 for a 1.350 OPS, with 85 bases.</p>
<p>For as special as those runs were, Guerrero&#8217;s 82 total bases over his run are already creeping on both Green and Encarnacion, while still playing in seven and five fewer games, respectively.</p>
<p>Baseball is a fickle sport, and his run could end in the wink of an eye, but it&#8217;s also one that continues to put into perspective the fact that he<em> </em>still hasn&#8217;t signed the long-term deal he rightly deserves. This season might just change things.</p>
<p>Game 2 between the Blue Jays and Athletics goes on Saturday afternoon with the first pitch set for 1:07 p.m.</p>
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<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.</span></i></p>
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stayed hot at the plate Friday night, continuing a tremendous tear stretching a hitting streak to 21 games as the Blue Jays beat the Athletics 3-1.


<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block"></div>
While Jose Berrios got the start lasting seven innings, allowing one earned run off six hits and one walk, while sitting down eight batters, the offence showed up when needed.

It was none other than George Springer leading things off with a 421-foot home run, sending the fifth pitch he saw deep into the bleachers in left centre field, setting the tone for Friday night's affair. Batting second, Daulton Varsho would single into left field, setting up Guerrero Jr. to come to the plate.

All six pitches he saw were down and away, but he got enough of a Mitch Spence slider to send it into centre field. While the Jays wouldn't be able to cash another run in the first, Alejandro Kirk scored the game-winning run in a bottom of the sixth on a ground out, getting home Guerrero Jr. who singled shortly before. The home runs didn't end there, as Spencer Horwitz hit his fifth home run of the season, sending a four-seam fastball into right field.

https://twitter.com/ShiDavidi/status/1822070637977907489

The story of the game, however, was another big night from Guerrero Jr. Stretching his hitting streak to 21, he now falls one game short of tying his previous career-high hitting streak, when between July 15th, 2022 and August 13th of that year, he slashed .374/.424/.582 for a 1.007 OPS. He notched 34 hits over that 22-game run, three of which were home runs.

This time around? Things are a bit different. He's slashing .514/.580/1.095 for a staggering 1.675 OPS with a staggering 10 home runs.

His streak isn't just about him regaining form as one of the game's best hitters, as he put on full display during 2021, but it's about him further cementing his legacy as one of the best Blue Jays in franchise history. Of the 16 players who have had 20+ game-hitting streaks, few have done what Vladdy has.

In fact, only two had double-digit home runs over their streaks: Shawn Green, who had a franchise record 28-game streak in 1999, hitting 12 home runs and slashing .366/.434/.750 for a 1.184 OPS, while totalling 84 bases, and Edwin Encarnacion, who had a 26-game streak in 2015. The latter hit 11 home runs, slashing .412/.474/.876 for a 1.350 OPS, with 85 bases.

For as special as those runs were, Guerrero's 82 total bases over his run are already creeping on both Green and Encarnacion, while still playing in seven and five fewer games, respectively.

Baseball is a fickle sport, and his run could end in the wink of an eye, but it's also one that continues to put into perspective the fact that he<em> </em>still hasn't signed the long-term deal he rightly deserves. This season might just change things.

Game 2 between the Blue Jays and Athletics goes on Saturday afternoon with the first pitch set for 1:07 p.m.

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at</span></i> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing"><span style="font-weight: 400;">@zjlaing</span></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.</span></i>

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