NEW YORK -- One or two big swings can wipe your memory clean.
All of those weak ground balls, stranded runners and ugly losses over the weekend? By the time Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s rocket landed in the left-center-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium on Friday night, they were beginning to blur. By the time Alejandro Kirk’s two-run double sailed over Trent Grisham’s head in the ninth, Will Smith’s character from “Men In Black” was standing in front of you, holding the Neuralyzer. Click. Gone.
Friday’s 4-2 win over the Yankees was imperfect in a hundred different ways, but this is what power can do. Vladdy’s home run and Kirk’s moment in the ninth, which couldn’t have come at a better time after a slow start to his season, made up for every little thing that has gone wrong.
This offense is dragging, period. It ranks 29th in MLB with just 14 home runs in 26 games and 26th with just 90 runs scored. No one expects the Blue Jays to chase down the Cubs or outslug the Yankees, but this start has been a full and complete disappointment at the dish.
The beauty of baseball? That can change in an instant.
Guerrero’s shot was just his second of the season and another New York classic for the Yankee killer himself, a scorching line drive that just never came down. As Guerrero rounded the bases, some boos rained down, familiar boos to a star who knows just how to ruin a Yankees fan’s night.
Vladdy didn't mind, either, and channeled Reggie Jackson after the game.
“You never hear the fans boo a bad ballplayer,” Guerrero said through a club interpreter.
It was Guerrero’s 15th career home run in 43 career games at Yankee Stadium. Aaron Judge owns this place, but Vladdy rents the penthouse for weekend trips.
“It’s a blessing from God,” Guerrero said through a club interpreter. “It has to be that. I feel very comfortable on this field when I’m hitting, but this is a blessing from God.”
No player has the ability to elevate this lineup like the $500 million man, Guerrero. It’s not particularly close. He spent the early weeks of the season shooting hard line drives to right-center field, but never truly turning on his pitch. In Guerrero’s first at-bat of the game, Carlos Carrasco struck him out with a slider that Guerrero would have needed two bats to reach. Everything has felt just a bit off, but there’s never been anything slow nor subtle about Guerrero’s game. When it comes, it’s an avalanche.
“It’s no secret,” manager John Schneider said, cracking a smile. “As Vladdy goes, we go, and I hope he has a good stay in New York.”
Guerrero isn’t a one-man show, though. Ideally, he has two or three Blue Jays hitters playing strong supporting roles each night, but Friday, Kirk was enough. Even before his big moment in the ninth, Kirk shut down the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth when he threw out Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base.
“He’s been grinding, but he’s so steady,” Schneider said. “I think that’s one of the things that makes him great. He’s so calm in any spot. That’s two huge [runners] caught stealing, then the big hit in the ninth. He’s about as cool and calm as you get. He doesn’t really budge.”
There has to be a sense of relief to this, though, even for someone as steady as Kirk. He looked spectacular in Spring Training and signed a five-year, $58 million extension, but he came into New York hitting just .211 with a .532 OPS. That’s not him.
“It feels great. I needed it,” Kirk said through a club interpreter, “and the team needed it. I’m very happy, just very happy about it.”
Now, the Blue Jays need to turn one of these wins into a springboard. Until Kirk’s double in the ninth, it looked like this story would end the same way too many have recently, with the Blue Jays’ offense wasting an excellent pitching performance from José Berríos.
Big hits change stories quickly, though, and by the time Kirk’s double found the grass at Yankee Stadium and ricocheted off the wall in center, everyone had already forgotten what put the Blue Jays in that spot to begin with.