This is what it was always supposed to look like.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. unleashing his powerful, picturesque, right-handed swing and connecting with precision, sending a ball soaring toward the outfield seats at a packed Rogers Centre in October.
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It’s a sight more than a decade in the making — and one that finally came to fruition in the first inning of Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday in Toronto, where Guerrero smashed a solo home run to set the tone and open the scoring en route to a commanding, 10-1 Blue Jays victory over the New York Yankees.
It wasn’t all that long ago that a moment like this seemed out of reach. Earlier this year, many wondered if Guerrero was preparing for his final season as a Blue Jay, with a lucrative free agency awaiting following the season. But after months of negotiations, Guerrero and the Blue Jays agreed in April on a humongous pact — 14 years, $500 million — to ensure the first baseman would be the face of the franchise for the long haul.
The extension was a massive organizational victory, but also a contained one. The Blue Jays had been to the postseason three times with Guerrero (2020, 2022, 2023) but got swept in the wild-card round on all three occasions, and they were coming off a miserably disappointing 74-win campaign in 2024. Toronto could take solace in the knowledge that Guerrero wasn’t going anywhere, but questions lingered regarding the organization’s ability to build a winner around him.
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But over the past six months, the Blue Jays answered the call. They surged as the summer went on, restoring their status as legitimate contenders in the American League. They fended off a late push from the Yankees to secure their first AL East title since 2015, setting the stage for Saturday’s Game 1 to open the ALDS. And Guerrero wasted no time meeting the moment, lofting a changeup from Yankees starter Luis Gil into a giddy Blue Jays bullpen for a quick 1-0 lead.
In the grand scheme of Game 1, which Toronto eventually turned into a blowout, Guerrero’s first-inning swing might not carry as much significance as it initially appeared. But for the 26-year-old — who went 3-for-22 with zero homers in his first six career postseason games — it was a refreshing reminder of what he’s capable of. And for a franchise looking to snap a seven-game postseason losing streak dating to the 2016 ALCS, Guerrero’s solo shot immediately instilled confidence in both the dugout and the crowd of nearly 45,000 that this team would not succumb to the postseason pressure but would emphatically rise to the occasion.
“This time around, everybody’s ready,” Guerrero said postgame when asked about earning the franchise’s first postseason victory in nearly nine years. “Everybody’s ready for the game. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting the game, if you’re coming off the bench — everybody knows what they have to do, and then whenever they get the chance, they come up ready and do the job.”
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Said catcher Alejandro Kirk, who along with Guerrero and injured shortstop Bo Bichette has been on the past three Toronto playoff teams: “All the teams in the past were good teams … I would say the way we work together, our chemistry in the clubhouse, the dugout, during the games, it’s probably the difference between this team and the teams in the past.”
Guerrero went on to add two more hits plus a sacrifice fly, as well as a splendid diving grab on a double play in the second inning, but he wasn’t the only Blue Jay to show up in a big way Saturday. Kirk crushed two solo home runs, picking up right where he left off at the end of the regular season. Right fielder Nathan Lukes drove in three runs and played some terrific defense of his own. No. 8 hitter Andrés Giménez drove in two runs and scored twice. It was a comprehensive and collective offensive effort, an especially encouraging display in light of Bichette’s absence from the ALDS roster due to injury.
“I feel like we’ve been here for a little bit, and things haven’t gone our way. Every season there’s a different feel and a different vibe. I’ve said it before: There’s a different feel with this team,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “I feel a lot of fulfillment for the guys in there that have grinded and put in a lot of work and had some good years and not so great finishes to it.”
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Meanwhile, New York’s shortcomings in Game 1 were mostly apparent on the mound. Fending off the Yankees to claim the top seed in the AL wasn’t just about the bye and home-field advantage; it was also about the pitching edge Toronto would have to open the division series. The Yankees arrived north of the border fresh off three hard-fought games against Boston that rendered their top three starters unavailable for Game 1, requiring them to turn to a more volatile option in Gil. The Blue Jays, on the other hand, had the luxury of giving the ball to their ace, Kevin Gausman, on full rest.
The discrepancy showed. Gil recorded just eight outs before being removed, while Gausman coasted through his first five frames on 50 pitches. And though Yankees relievers Tim Hill and Camilo Doval quieted things down in the middle innings, Luke Weaver and Fernando Cruz followed with ugly outings that enabled Toronto to pull away for good.
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And while the final score suggests a noncompetitive affair, the Yankees did have one golden opportunity to tilt Game 1 in their favor. Facing a 2-0 deficit, they quickly loaded the bases to start the sixth inning against Gausman, with an Anthony Volpe double, Austin Wells single and Trent Grisham walk. That pitted a suddenly shaky Gausman against Aaron Judge, who arrived at the plate with a signature October moment presented on a silver platter.
But it was not to be. Gausman attacked with his vintage 1-2 combo of fastballs and splitters, getting Judge to uncharacteristically chase a splitter well outside the zone for a gigantic strike three.
Cody Bellinger followed with a four-pitch walk to put the Yankees on the board and make it a 2-1 game, but Gausman then got Ben Rice to pop out before reliever Louis Varland entered and struck out Giancarlo Stanton with a 100.7-mph fireball. Altogether, it was a brutal sequence of unproductive plate appearances from the heart of a Yankees lineup that ranked as baseball’s best offense in the regular season, and it served as the most glaring misstep at the plate in a game mostly defined by the Yankees’ poor pitching.
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“I think that was the key of the game,” Kirk said afterward. “Striking out Judge right there, we were able to keep the game 2-1, and then we were also able to manufacture more runs. That was the key of the entire game.”
Indeed, the Blue Jays took care of business and then some in Game 1, but they’ll enter Game 2 on Sunday under notably different circumstances on the mound. While the Yankees will give the ball to left-hander Max Fried, who shined against Boston with 6 1/3 scoreless innings and will be making his 14th career postseason start, Toronto will go with 22-year-old rookie Trey Yesavage.
The wildly talented right-hander began this season in A-ball and rocketed to the big leagues in time to earn not just a playoff roster spot but also the responsibility of starting Game 2 against the Yankees. It will be on Fried to slow the positive momentum gathered by Toronto in the Game 1 rout, while Yesavage will look to ride the wave provided by his teammates to a commanding 2-0 series lead.
“It’s nice to get the first one out of the way,” Schneider said. “[But] you got another tough task tomorrow, you know what I mean?”
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