Mr. Vlad-tober: Guerrero ‘Just Keeps Doing it’ in Magical Postseason Run

LOS ANGELES — For many, it was hard to wind down after a Game 3 bout that lasted more than six and a half hours. Toronto Game 4 starter Shane Bieber, who nearly had to enter Monday’s marathon, got back to the team hotel around 1 a.m. and didn’t fall asleep until about an hour later. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts needed “a little sleep aid” to come down from the adrenaline rush after a walk-off win. 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., meanwhile, experienced no such issues. 

“To be honest,” Guerrero said through an interpreter, “I slept like a baby.”

In the regular season, the Blue Jays’ 49 comeback wins led the majors. In the ALCS, they faced two elimination games against the Mariners and saved their season both times. And on Tuesday night, hours after falling on the wrong end of an 18-inning walk-off defeat, the Blue Jays responded again. 

The spark, per usual, came from Guerrero, the well-rested Toronto slugger who smashed his franchise record seventh postseason home run on a swing that flipped the momentum back the Blue Jays’ way, catalyzed a resounding 6-2 victory that tied the World Series at 2-2, and ensured the series would go back to Toronto. 

“He just keeps doing it,” said Ernie Clement. “It’s across 50, 60 at-bats at this point, where he’s just been impossible to get out. It’s why we are where we’re at.”

Vladimir Guerrero has been the catalyst for the Blue Jays. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

In another world, Guerrero might’ve been remembered as the difference-maker the night prior, too, before a seven-inning slugfest transformed into another game entirely. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning of Game 3, Guerrero picked a short-hop throw from shortstop Andres Gimenez at first base, turned and fired an 87.6 mph dart across the diamond to Clement at third just in time to get Teoscar Hernandez, helping keep the game tied at four. The Blue Jays’ ebullient superstar then gave his good friend Hernández the iconic Dikembe Mutombo finger wag. 

An inning later, Guerrero had a wide grin on his face as he rounded third and scored from first base on a Bo Bichette single. He slapped his hand on home plate before catcher Will Smith could supply the tag. It could have been the deciding run, if not for the extraordinary performance at the plate from the next day’s starting pitcher. 

Shohei Ohtani took the mound Tuesday night coming off another record-setting offensive display, a game in which he recorded extra-base hits in each of his first four plate appearances — including a game-tying homer in the seventh — and reached base all nine times. 

All the momentum was with the Dodgers after they outlasted the Blue Jays in Game 3. It stayed that way early in Game 4, when Kiké Hernández began the game with a terrific grab in left field and followed with a sacrifice fly that put the Dodgers up in the second inning. 

But with one swing in the third, Guerrero flipped the game and the direction of the series, removing some of the agony of Toronto’s backbreaking Game 3 defeat in the process. He’s now slashing .419.500/.806 in the playoffs, leading all players in both hits (26) and OPS (1.306). 

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushes two-run home run off Shohei Ohtani, giving Blue Jays lead over Dodgers

“When Vladdy’s at 100%, really going as hard as he can, he’s easily one of the best players in the world,” said Chris Bassitt, who threw two scoreless innings of relief Tuesday night. “So it’s no shock what he’s doing, honestly, because he’s going at 100%.” 

That’s especially vital now, with the Blue Jays playing without George Springer, who injured his side on a swing in Game 3. It was a brutal blow to the lineup, not only because of Springer’s playoff pedigree — after his go-ahead three-run blast in Game 7 of the ALCS, he is now tied for third all-time in postseason home runs — but also because of his success against the Dodgers’ Game 4 starter. Springer is 7-for-15 with two home runs and a walk in his career against Ohtani. 

Guerrero claimed he didn’t feel an added responsibility to be the spark with Springer out. 

“I don’t see it that way,” Guerrero told me. “I have to do my part. Everybody has to do their part.”

 In a showdown of superstars, Vladdy best Shohei in Game 4. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

But he did more than that Tuesday night, lifting the offense with two hits, two runs, two RBIs, one walk and one mighty hack. 

“We feel confident in Vladdy against anybody,” said Kevin Gausman. “But obviously it’s a big spot, and a lot of talk about who he was facing. To do that in that spot was huge.”

Ohtani got the best of Guerrero his first time up on Tuesday, getting him to chase the way few pitchers have this October. Guerrero left the zone flailing at a sweeper in the first inning. It was just his fifth strikeout in 15 games this postseason. 

Two innings later, though, Guerrero got him back. He had his own history of success against Ohtani, entering the night 3-for-8 with a homer, a double and a walk against the Dodgers’ two-way sensation, and he added to that total in the third inning. 

Ohtani missed with a 2-1 sweeper that hung at the top of the zone. Guerrero did not. The Blue Jays’ October standout punished the mistake, turning on a 395-foot home run that found the left-field pavilion.

“After last night and kind of all the recognition that went into Shohei individually and he’s on the mound today, it’s a huge swing from Vlad,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “It’s a huge swing to get us going.”

The hit, Guerrero’s 25th of the postseason — the most ever in a single postseason by a first baseman — seemed to settle in both his team and starting pitcher Shane Bieber, the former Cy Young Award winner who was acquired at the deadline with these moments in mind. Bieber allowed just one run in 5.1 innings, clinging onto a slim advantage at the time. 

Once Ohtani left in the seventh, the Blue Jays’ fusillade commenced. 

When Toronto strikes, it tends to happen in waves. The Blue Jays scored at least four runs in an inning 46 times in the regular season, the most in the American League, and they’ve carried that quick-strike attack into October while demonstrating the length of a lineup that had the highest batting average and on-base percentage in MLB this year. 

Their four-run seventh inning Tuesday night marked the ninth time this postseason they’ve scored at least that many runs in a frame. Only the 2023 champion Texas Rangers have tallied more four-run innings in a single postseason. 

With that, the deflating feeling of the previous 24 hours began to dissipate. 

This is a series again. 

“We genuinely care for each other,” Bassitt said. “We’re picking each other up constantly, not putting too much pressure on each other. We just go out there and play our game. And for the most part, when we play our game, we win.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.