Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 10th home run in 20 games and drove in four runs, while Kevin Gausman pitched eight innings to win his fourth consecutive game, helping the Toronto Blue Jays hold off a late rally and defeat the Baltimore Orioles 7-6 on Thursday night.
With his Hall of Fame father watching from a private suite, Guerrero came close to hitting for the cycle. He began the scoring with an RBI double off Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to 20 games, which is his longest this season.
Guerrero flew out to end the second inning but then hit a two-run homer to right field off Kremer in the fifth, marking his 23rd of the season. He finished the night with an RBI triple off right-hander Bryan Baker in the sixth inning, which was his first triple of the season.
Guerrero pointed to his father as he crossed home plate after his home run, the first time he’s hit one in the big leagues with his father present in the stands.
“Once I hit it, I knew it was gone,” Guerrero said through a translator. “Not until I touched home plate and when I pointed at him, I was kind of like ‘Wow, finally he saw one.’”
During his hitting streak, Guerrero is batting .507 (37 for 73) with 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and 22 RBIs. “He’s the best hitter in baseball right now,” Gausman said. “I don’t know what I would do if I was facing him.”
Guerrero’s current streak is the longest active hitting streak in the majors and his longest since a career-best 22-game streak in 2022.
“He’s showing this league what he’s capable of,” Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser said. Daulton Varsho, who batted in front of Guerrero, reached base three times and scored three runs.
“Tough to win when you’re walking guys in front of Guerrero,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Just some poor pitch execution to him, a guy that’s really dangerous, and it hurt us.”
Cowser hit a two-run home run and drove in four runs for the Orioles. Baltimore leads the majors with 179 home runs but lost two out of three games in Toronto and is 11-15 since July 9.
“Right now, we haven’t been playing our best baseball, but we’re still in the race for the division,” Cowser said. “That’s really all you can ask for.” Baltimore and the New York Yankees are tied for first place in the AL East with identical 68-48 records.
Gausman (10-8) had struggled against Baltimore in his previous six career starts, with a 1-4 record and a 5.35 ERA. He retired the first eight batters he faced before walking infielder Ramón Urías. Cowser then hit a first-pitch home run, his 17th of the season.
Anthony Santander followed with a double and Gunnar Henderson walked, but Gausman got Ryan O’Hearn to ground out.
Gausman allowed two runs and three hits, retiring 16 of the last 18 batters he faced. He walked three and struck out two. “We didn’t do a whole lot after that homer,” Hyde said.
Baltimore entered the ninth inning trailing 7-3 but loaded the bases with three straight hits off Zach Pop. Chad Green came in to finish the game, earning his 10th save in 10 chances.
Jackson Holliday drove in a run with a fielder’s choice, and Cedric Mullins hit an RBI double, but Green struck out pinch hitter Eloy Jiménez.
Cowser made it 7-6 with a single, but Green closed out the game by retiring Santander on a fly ball. The Orioles are 12-13 in one-run games this season.
Kremer (4-9) allowed five runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He balked home a run in the first inning and matched his career worst with five walks.
“Walks are always disappointing, unless they’re intentional,” Kremer said. “I threw too many non-competitive pitches in deep counts and got myself in trouble.” Kremer lost for the fifth time in six starts and has not won since July 3 at Seattle.
