Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 1st homer at home caps Blue Jays series win over Orioles

Slugger's four-hit performance emerges as much-needed bright spot during 8-1 beatdown of Baltimore at home

Published Sep 13, 2026  •  4 minute read

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates with first base coach Mark Budzinski after hitting a single in the seventh inning during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Toronto. Photo by Vaughn Ridley /Getty Images

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Back-to-back-to-back, the Blue Jays would swing their bats in an explosive sequence that should have the many apologists of the club and its diehards brimming with confidence knowing 12 games remain with Toronto firmly entrenched in the battle for a playoff spot.

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr., for one, will no longer be asked why he has gone homerless at home.

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George Springer’s ability to persevere through any physical discomfort will never be questioned.

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And while Kazuma Okamoto is hardly a rookie, he does technically qualify as one in MLB because the Japanese-born player had never played in the North American show.

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All three went deep in succession beginning with Springer’s opposite-field dinger.

A curtain call for Guerrero seemed fitting given his homer woes at home, but no one will care if the Jays fail to qualify for the playoffs.

Sunday’s series rubber match against the Baltimore Orioles represented yet another meaningful game for the Jays, whose pitching continues to carry the day.

A four-hit performance from Guerrero emerged as a much-needed bright spot, but the biggest and most important development came from the Jays’ 8-1 beatdown that gave Toronto a 6-4 edge in the season series.

In other words, the O’s need a sweep to take the season series and the potential tiebreaker when the teams meet in Baltimore for three games beginning on Sept. 21.

Sunday’s win improved the Jays’ record to 75-75 with the battle for the final wild card spot in full swing.

The following are three takeaways on a day when the Jays hit three homers in a row for the first time since 2012 and seventh time in club history, Braydon Fisher struck out Pete Alonso with runners on the corner in a high-leverage moment and Springer knocked in four runs.

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Dylan Cease of the Toronto Blue Jays tosses his glove in the air at the end of the fifth inning during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Toronto. Photo by Vaughn Ridley /Getty Images

1. Dylan Cease’s uneven day

His velocity was down again, his control nowhere to be found with the situation threatening to get even worse prompting the Jays to have a reliever warm up in the bullpen.

Keep in mind, this was the first inning and not a single out had been recorded.

Dylan Cease had the look of frustration in his last outing when the host Athletics were relentless in taking advantage of every opportunity.

His frustration was clearly on display against the Orioles.

When facing the first four batters, Cease fell behind each time. He nearly walked in the game’s first run, but was the beneficiary of a well-timed ABS challenge initiated by Brandon Valenzuela, who had three calls overturned in the rubber match.

Instead of walking in a run, Cease recorded his first strikeout, which, for the record, represented a career-high for the right-hander in a single season. The punchout was the 228th of the season for Cease, who set his previous high of 227 in 2022 with the Chicago White Sox.

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Through three innings, Cease had recorded six strikeouts, while issuing four walks. This was by no means a vintage Cease outing, but an important outing nonetheless given his start followed a bullpen day.

In the fifth inning, Cease gave up a leadoff double and then allowed an RBI single to Alonso. A walk would follow as Cease reverted to his first-inning version.

On this day, a ball went off Cease’s foot resulting in an out, while a gloveless Cease helped record the inning-ending out in the fifth.

Cease needs to be infinitely better, that much is certain, and overcame a five-walk outing mainly because the Orioles couldn’t hit with runners on base as he struck out nine.

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2. Homerless no more, but hardly hapless

The expression of beating a dead horse to death, which doesn’t exactly evoke pleasant thoughts, regrettably comes to mind when applied to Guerrero and his much-documented, much-discussed and much-debated homer drought at home.

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Mind you, it had been interesting documenting his ordeal until Guerrero unleashed his ninth homer of the season and first at home Sunday.

Take the bottom of the third as an example when he went the other way on a sharply hit ball that went off the wall for a double, leaving Guerrero aghast when he reached second base.

The long-awaited moment arrived with two outs in the fifth inning, when he arched a ball into the left-field seats.

One has to go back to Oct. 19, 2025, to find the last time Guerrero went yard at home in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

There are much bigger fish to fry for the Jays than worrying about his lack of slugging at home, but the proverbial monkey has officially been lifted off his back.

Charles McAdoo of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a single in the second inning during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Toronto. Photo by Vaughn Ridley /Getty Images

3. Charles can McAdoo it all

One gets the impression that Charles McAdoo will do just about anything to get into games and, by extension, stay in the majors.

The popular Swiss Army knife idiom applies to McAdoo, who got the start in left field on Sunday and batted fifth in the lineup.

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The Orioles started Trevor Rogers, who surrendered McAdoo’s first career homer earlier in the season when the Jays were in Baltimore. The dinger also happened to be McAdoo’s first hit in the majors — in his first game no less.

Sunday, he showed his instincts by scoring from second base on a ball hit into shallow left field.

Up Next

Cease is the unquestioned ace of the Jays staff with Jose Soriano justifiably slotted into the No. 2 hole; Soriano gets the start Monday when the Detroit Tigers come to town for a three-game series; it’s far too premature to suggest Trey Yesavage will pitch again this season following knee surgery, but he did throw in the bullpen prior to Sunday’s game.

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