NEW YORK — Hours before the Yankees’ series opener against the Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. held court with the press and shared that, as a little kid who grew up in the majors, he dreamed of playing at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s a stadium where you want to perform,” Toronto’s designated hitter said Friday, though he doesn’t want to play for the Yankees. “You want to hit.”
Guerrero, who entered the contest with 10 home runs and 17 RBIs over 31 games at the stadium, has certainly hit in the Bronx. Friday was no different.
The 2021 MVP runner-up launched his fourth longball of the year in the first inning, a two-run shot off Domingo German. The Blue Jays never looked back after that; they beat the Bombers, 6-1.
The Yankees cut the deficit to one in the second inning when Oswaldo Cabrera took Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi deep to right field. The dinger was the switch-hitting Cabrera’s first of the season, and his first-ever off a lefty.
Kikuchi didn’t make any other mistakes, though, and he finished the night with six strong innings of work. The Yankees managed just four hits off him, and Cabrera’s was the only one that went for extra bases.
But the Jays weren’t done with German after the first. The Yankees right-hander retired 12 straight batters at one point, but a walk and a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning led to another two-run blast. This time, it was Brandon Belt hitting his first homer of the year.
Home runs have been a problem for German throughout his career. He is one of 115 pitchers to log at least 400 innings since 2018. Only four have a higher HR/9 rate than German, according to statistician Katie Sharp.
One of three rotation fill-ins due to injuries, German has allowed four dingers in as many games this season. He also gave up five hits and two walks while striking out six over 91 pitches on Friday.
German’s ERA rests at 4.50.
Albert Abreu, the first Yankee out of the pen, entered the game with a spotless ERA, but he also struggled with Belt. The Blue Jays’ first baseman tagged Abreu for a double in the eighth inning and added two more insurance runs in the process.
After that, the most exciting moment of the game came in the top of the ninth when Yankees reliever Greg Weissert hit Guerrero with a pitch. Guerrero, who admired his home run earlier, stared the pitcher down afterward and took his time walking to first base. Anthony Rizzo took exception to that and let Guerrero know, but the incident hardly turned into anything major.
The second game of this divisional matchup features two right-handed aces, as Gerrit Cole and Alek Manoah are Saturday’s scheduled starters.
Cole’s 2023 campaign is off to a hot start, as he owns a 4-0 record, 0.95 ERA and 32 strikeouts. But Manoah has pitched poorly in a few games, including his last start. The 2022 Cy Young finalist coughed up seven earned runs to the Rays on April 16, and he has a 6.98 ERA over 19 1/3 innings.
“They’re both great competitors,” Guerrero said. “They’re gonna give all they got.”
