Unfortunately for Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., baseball can sometimes be a contact sport.
In the bottom of the sixth inning during the Blue Jays’ 3-1 win over the New York Yankees on Friday at the Rogers Centre, Guerrero took a knee to the head in a chaotic play.
The Blue Jays were trailing 1-0 with runners on first and second base with one out and George Springer up to bat. Nathan Lukes was on second base, while Guerrero was on first.
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Springer rolled over on Gerrit Cole’s fastball and hit a weak ground ball to third baseman Ryan McMahon. The Yankees’ third baseman charged the ball, stepped on third base, retiring Lukes, and fired to first base to try to complete the inning-ending double play.
Instead, McMahon threw it in the dirt, and first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. was unable to make the catch. When Garcia tried to pick the ball out of the dirt, his glove flew off and the ball went away from him. Guerrero looked to capitalize on the blunder and took off for third base.
Garcia finally recovered, grabbed the ball and fired a bullet to third base. The problem? No one was covering the bag.
Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. was a couple of paces off the bag, and Garcia’s throw went into foul territory. As Lombard went to pursue the ill-advised throw, he ran into Guerrero and kneed him in the head, dislodging his helmet.
Despite looking dazed, Guerrero scampered home to tie the game at 1-1. After scoring, he bent over and received help from his teammates as he made his way to the dugout. Guerrero was removed from the game after the collision.
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Manager John Schneider said Guerrero had "a little bit of a headache" after the collision.
"Kind of precautionary right now," Schneider said of the decision to remove Guerrero. "We'll see how he is tomorrow."
McMahon and Garcia were both charged with errors on the play.
"Just didn't work out, man," McMahon said of the play. "Obviously led to a couple of runs for them and that hurts."
Guerrero, who signed a 14-year, $500 million contract extension with the Blue Jays last season, has had a down year. The six-time All-Star is hitting .263 with just seven home runs and 46 RBI.
The lack of power is astounding, as he has hit at least 23 home runs in every full season of his career. He has not hit a home run at home this year.
While he might not be providing the thump the Blue Jays are used to, he still anchors the middle of their lineup. Losing him would be a significant blow to a Blue Jays team that is in pursuit of the third Wild-Card spot in the American League.
The Blue Jays (60-64) will play the Yankees (68-54) in the second game of their three-game series on Saturday at 3:07 p.m. ET and will hope to have their star first baseman in the lineup.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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