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CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 02: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on September 02, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
This is exactly what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. needed.<\/p>\n
For that matter, it\u2019s exactly what the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> needed.<\/p>\n Guerrero had a huge night as part of the Blue Jays<\/a>\u2018 11-0 romp in Cleveland over the Guardians on Wednesday, and in the process, he notched a couple of cool milestone moments.<\/p>\n The highlight of the night wasn\u2019t actually a part of either milestone: Guerrero lifted off for a towering home run to left field, his eighth homer of the season, ending a home run drought of more than two weeks:<\/p>\n Vladimir Guerrero Jr.\u2019s first home run since Aug. 8, a towering, three-run shot to right.<\/p>\n \u201cVladdy\u201d chants from #BlueJays<\/a> fans as he leaves the field. pic.twitter.com\/A3LFFaQH5F<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) September 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Guerrero got to celebrate in the dugout with the Blue Jays\u2019 fun jacket and dragon combo, pictured atop this article.<\/p>\n He finished the night 3-for-4 with a double, that homer and five runs batted in. Not a bad day at the office.<\/p>\n Hits Milestone<\/p>\n Guerrero entered the night with 1,197 career hits in 4,200 at bats in the major leagues.<\/p>\n You can do the math: With three hits, Guerrero now has 1,200 for his MLB<\/a> career.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a career .285 hitter, with a little hot streak still needed to round that up to .286.<\/p>\n His father, Vladdy Sr., was a .318 hitter at the MLB level with 2,590 career hits, so son has a long way to go to catch up to father.<\/p>\n RBI Milestone<\/p>\n According to Sportsnet<\/a>, Guerrero notched five RBI in a game for the first time since June 29, 2024 \u2014 more than two years ago.<\/p>\n Guerrero entered Wednesday\u2019s game with 48 RBI in 124 games this season, a far cry from the pace of the rest of his career, so to see him drive in five runs in one night had to be hugely encouraging for Toronto fans.<\/p>\n This is a guy who has topped 100 RBI in two seasons and gone above 90 in two other campaigns, so everything about this year has felt wrong for Vladdy.<\/p>\n He still hasn\u2019t hit a single home run at home, and even his eight homers now in road games isn\u2019t a particularly imposing total.<\/p>\n The question can be asked until everyone is blue in the face, but it won\u2019t be too obvious at any point what has gone wrong for Guerrero this season.<\/p>\n The reality right now as September gets underway is that all Vladdy can do is try to get hot for the stretch run. The Blue Jays would have some work to do, but they\u2019re within striking distance of a Wild Card spot, and if they can track that down, they\u2019ll have last year\u2019s postseason experience to draw upon.<\/p>\n Guerrero was a monster in October last season. Maybe Wednesday night is a sign that he can heat<\/a> up ahead of schedule and go on a September hot streak for the Blue Jays to make things very interesting in the American League.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tBilly Heyen<\/a> Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim’s basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men’s national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \t