Tempers flare as Vlad Guerrero Jr. exits Blue Jays win over Guardians after getting drilled

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A three-game midweek series in Cleveland was supposed to be all about the return to the mound of Blue Jays would-be ace starter Max Scherzer and the feel-good element of getting a star player back in the lineup.

Instead, there was at least some concern about the status of their highest-paid player as all-star first baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr. was drilled on the right forearm by a pitch from Guardians starter Tanner Bibee in the third inning of Thursday’s matinee.

And, as a bonus, a Jays pitcher who had been struggling came up big with his best outing this month in a decisive 6-0 win in the rubber-match of the series.

First, to Guerrero. After staying in briefly after getting hit, the Jays’ $500-million man was removed from the game after camera shots showed him wincing while attempting to hold a bat.

The Jays later announced that X-rays on Guerrero’s arm were negative for any fracture and he was diagnosed with a right-arm contusion as initially, anyway, the team appeared to dodge a serious injury to its superstar. 

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Front and centre in the contest was Jays starter Kevin Gausman, who most importantly finished off what had been a terrible June with a terrific outing in which he blanked the Guardians over eight innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six.

The veteran right-hander endeared himself to his own dugout in another way when he plunked the first batter he faced in the fourth inning, nailing Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez with a fastball to the forearm — an emphatic volley of retaliation.

If there was hope that the tit-for-tat retribution would end matters, they didn’t. After learning that Ramirez would be leaving the game after the hit, Guardians manager Steven Vogt was incensed as the inning ended and stormed toward the Jays dugout where he was yelling at Toronto manager John Schneider. The diagnosis for Ramirez after an X-ray was the same as Guerrero’s.

The Jays clearly had seen enough, given that Guerrero was plunked with a pitch for the second time in as many games against the Guardians.

Though the initial diagnosis obviously is encouraging, Toronto can ill afford to lose its most dynamic hitter for any period of time. Guerrero had been heating up at the plate of late, including belting his 11th homer of the season in a loss on Wednesday.

With Gausman dealing, the Jays were able to navigate a lineup light on regulars. Outfielder George Springer and catcher Alejandro Kirk were given scheduled off-days while regular shortstop Bo Bichette was the DH. Add the loss of Guerrero and prevailing over the Guardians was even more impressive.

With the win, the Jays improved to 43-37 and have now won 17 of 26 as they were to take a charter flight to Boston for a three-game weekend series against their division rival.

GAUSMAN THE GOOD

The Jays needed a deep outing and effective outing from Gausman for a couple of reasons. First off, the bullpen had weathered a heavy workload in the first two games of the series and, second, it had been a mostly miserable month for the right-hander.

But the veteran dug in on Thursday. After allowing a double to Steven Kwan, the first Guardians hitter he faced, Gausman only allowed one more hit the rest of the way.

It was the third time this season Gausman has given his team eight innings and it couldn’t have happened at a better time as the righty needed 104 pitches to secure the win.

WIN UGLY?

Other than the throwing-pitches-at-dudes shenanigans in the fourth inning, there was more ugliness — in particular how the Jays managed to score the three runs that decided the game in the third inning.

Not only did Guerrero get hit, first baseman Kyle Manzardo had no less than three errors in the inning and Bibee delivered a wild pitch.

To their credit, the Jays took advantage, the biggest blow a Nathan Lukes single that drove in a pair of runs to open the scoring.

The Jays added on in the ninth to take all the stress out of the outcome, scoring three runs on a bases-loaded single by Kirk, who came in as a pinch-hitter.

STAR POWER

While Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge have been voted by fans to be starters at the MLB all-star game on July 15 in Atlanta, Guerrero and Kirk might join them.

In the next round of voting (from June 30 to July 2), Guerrero is up against Paul Goldschmidt of the Yankees for the AL first base spot. The AL catcher position is between Kirk and Cal Raleigh of the Mariners.