This is exactly what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. needed.
For that matter, it’s exactly what the Toronto Blue Jays needed.
Guerrero had a huge night as part of the Blue Jays‘ 11-0 romp in Cleveland over the Guardians on Wednesday, and in the process, he notched a couple of cool milestone moments.
The highlight of the night wasn’t 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:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s first home run since Aug. 8, a towering, three-run shot to right.
“Vladdy” chants from #BlueJays fans as he leaves the field. pic.twitter.com/A3LFFaQH5F
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) September 2, 2026
Guerrero got to celebrate in the dugout with the Blue Jays’ fun jacket and dragon combo, pictured atop this article.
He finished the night 3-for-4 with a double, that homer and five runs batted in. Not a bad day at the office.
Hits Milestone
Guerrero entered the night with 1,197 career hits in 4,200 at bats in the major leagues.
You can do the math: With three hits, Guerrero now has 1,200 for his MLB career.
He’s a career .285 hitter, with a little hot streak still needed to round that up to .286.
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.
RBI Milestone
According to Sportsnet, Guerrero notched five RBI in a game for the first time since June 29, 2024 — more than two years ago.
Guerrero entered Wednesday’s 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.
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.
He still hasn’t hit a single home run at home, and even his eight homers now in road games isn’t a particularly imposing total.
The question can be asked until everyone is blue in the face, but it won’t be too obvious at any point what has gone wrong for Guerrero this season.
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’re within striking distance of a Wild Card spot, and if they can track that down, they’ll have last year’s postseason experience to draw upon.
Guerrero was a monster in October last season. Maybe Wednesday night is a sign that he can heat up ahead of schedule and go on a September hot streak for the Blue Jays to make things very interesting in the American League.
Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Notches 2 Milestones in 1 Slump-Busting Night