Vladimir Guerrero Jr. found a fitting way to celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays' return to the win column alongside his teammate Alejandro Kirk on Monday.
The Toronto Blue Jays first baseman doused Kirk with a Gatorade shower after Monday's 4--2 win over the Houston Astros, then shared the moment on his Instagram story with a fistbump and a tag for the catcher.
Guerrero is slashing .283/.365/.372 this season, still chasing the power that carried Toronto to the World Series a year ago. He has four home runs and 32 RBIs, unusually low numbers for a five-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger.
© Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Kirk had his own reason to celebrate. The All-Star catcher drove in a run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, part of a three-sac-fly night that also included Guerrero and Myles Straw. Kazuma Okamoto supplied the early power with his 17th home run, and Louis Varland closed it out for his 16th save. The win pushed the Blue Jays to 39-39, only their second time reaching .500 since April 4.
Even though Kirk made his return to the lineup after being out for months with a fractured left thumb, Monday night's victory felt like a "true" return to the lineup in a team effort that added positive momentum for the team. Kirk has quickly settled into the middle of the lineup that leaned on Brandon Valenzuela in Kirk's absence, and sits second among American League catchers in All-Star voting.
© Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
Manager John Schneider kept the .500 mark win in perspective, focusing more on the need to win the series rather than on getting level. Toronto still sits in the middle of the AL East, but a return ot .500 and a clubhouse loose enough to trade Gatorade showers hints at a team that thinks the second half could look different.
