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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said he never felt pressure to finally hit his first homer this season as he headed to Rogers Center in recent weeks.
The Toronto Blue Jays slugger did just that on Sunday, blasting a homer down the left field line and into his club’s bullpen in Toronto’s 8-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles (72-78). Bullpen catcher Matt Domian made a great catch at that point.
“I knew this was coming,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “Today, tomorrow, I never felt pressure. I never came to the stadium thinking I had to hit.”
Guerrero enjoyed a four-hit game with two singles and a double in the third inning that missed a homer a foot off the right-center field wall.
The homer was the middle of three consecutive longballs by the home team from Baltimore left-hander Trevor Rogers (10-10). First, George Springer hit a single to right field. Then came Guerrero’s long-awaited outburst. Finally, Kazuma Okamoto followed with the 410-foot tall monster onto the second deck from the left.
It was the seventh time in club history that the Blue Jays hit three straight homers and the first time since June 19, 2012, when Colby Rasmus, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion went deep in Milwaukee. It would be another seven years before Vernon Wells, Corey Koski and Shea Hillenbrand met at the Rogers Center on April 9, 2005.
Not only did the 41,805 players at Rogers Center go crazy for Guerrero’s homer, but so did his teammates. Shortstop Andres Jimenez and others flew over the bench railing in rage to congratulate their teammate.
“It means a lot,” Guerrero said. “They obviously knew what was going on. They kept telling me to keep my head up.”
He definitely took his time walking around the bases. He may have been trying to remember his homer routine, like the jump he makes between second and third base, the “quiet” sign to third base coach Carlos Febles, the kiss of his wrists, and the look to the sky as he approaches home plate.
“It’s just my pace,” he said.
When Guerrero donned the Blue Jays Homer Blazer at Rogers Center for the first time since Game 6 against the Seattle Mariners of the 2025 American League Championship Series on Oct. 19, the crowd chanted “Vla-dee, Vla-dee,” calling the curtain call, which Guerrero obliged.
“I think everyone was really excited, not only for him, but for the game.” Toronto manager John Schneider added. “It seemed like the crowd really felt what it really meant.”
The reaction was far from the outcry he heard from time to time at home.
“My father [former Montreal Expos standout Vladimir Guerrero Sr.] always told me that fans don’t boo bad players,” Guerrero said when asked about the jeers.
Guerrero, 27, hit a homer in his 68th home game of 2026 and 252nd at-bat. But he wasn’t the only offensive bright spot for the Blue Jays (75-75), who sit one game behind the Cleveland Guardians for last place in the AL.
Springer knocked down four RBIs with his igniting rally homer and bases-loaded clearing double in the eighth. Okamoto’s homer meant he set a rookie club record with his 85th RBI.
“That game was great,” Guerrero said. “But it’s about winning, it’s about the team.”