Blue Jays’ Vlad Guerrero Jr. exits game after hit by pitch

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A three-game midweek series in Cleveland was supposed to be all about the return to the mound of Blue Jays would-be ace starter Max Scherzer and the feel-good element of getting a star player back in the lineup.

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Instead, there was at least some concern about the status of their highest-paid player.

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In the fourth inning of a Thursday matinee against the Guardians, concern with the Jays shifted significantly to the immediate health of all-star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., after he exited the game.

Guerrero had been plunked in the right forearm in the third inning by Guardians starter Tanner Bibee, who launched a sinker inside and nailed Vladdy.  He remained in the game briefly, but was removed before the bottom of the fourth when he didn’t return to the field to his regular spot at first.

The Jays later announced that X-Rays on Guerrero’s arm were negative for any fracture and diagnosed with a right-arm contusion.

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The Jays $500 million US man was both clearly in pain and irate after getting hit and fired off a death stare towards Bibee on the mound. He remained in the game to run but when the Jays came out to play defence, Guerrero was removed from the game.

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Later, camera shots in the visitor’s dugout had a closeup of Guerrero showing the star slugger wincing in pain as he attempted to grip a bat.

There was more evidence of the Jays displeasure in the bottom of the fourth inning when Toronto starter Kevin Gausman drilled the first batter he faced, hitting the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez on the arm with a fastball as clear retaliation.

If there was hope that the tit-for-tat retribution would end matters, they didn’t. After learning that Ramirez would be leaving the game after the hit, Guardians manager Steven Vogt was incensed as the inning ended and stormed toward the Jays dugout where he was yelling at Toronto manager John Schneider. The diagnosis for Ramirez after an X-Ray was the same as Guerrero’s.

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The Jays, meanwhile, clearly had enough after Guerrero was plunked with a pitch for the second time in as many games against the Guardians.

Toronto could ill afford to lose their most dynamic hitter, who in recent weeks had shown signs of heating up at the plate, including hitting his 11th homer of the season on Wednesday night.

Thursday’s game, which the Jays were leading 3-0 at the time of the incidents, was the rubber match of a three-game series between the Jays and Guardians after Toronto won the opener and then were defeated in extra innings on Wednesday night.

Following Thursday’s encounter, the Jays were scheduled to fly to Boston to begin a three-game weekend series against their division-rival Red Sox at Fenway Park.

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