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Jays' Vlad heats up with punishing double

Baseball's top prospect connects on one-handed laser to wall
Two of top Toronto prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s first three hits this spring have been doubles. (Lynne Sladky/AP)
March 3, 2019

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn't need two hands to make his first impression Sunday.Baseball's top overall prospect clobbered a one-handed double to left field in his first at-bat of the afternoon as the Blue Jays beat the Yankees, 5-2.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn't need two hands to make his first impression Sunday.
Baseball's top overall prospect clobbered a one-handed double to left field in his first at-bat of the afternoon as the Blue Jays beat the Yankees, 5-2.

Playing in his fourth game of the spring, Toronto's No. 1 prospect hammered the first second-inning offering from New York starter Domingo Germán off the left-field wall.
"I'm comfortable," Guerrero told MLB.com through an interpreter. "I have to keep working. I have to work on everything. I'm going to keep doing that."

The two-bagger was the 19-year-old's second of the spring, but he was thrown out at the plate trying to score two batters later on a single to right by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
"What was I thinking?" Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told MLB.com. "If it was me, it would have been a bloop single or something to the catcher. That was amazing. So relaxed. I can never relate to that. That's unbelievable and a good sign for us."
In the fourth, Guerrero bounced out on a grounder to third, and two innings later, he flew out to right to finish his afternoon.
The flyout came one batter after Rowdy Tellez gave his team the lead for good. Toronto's No. 21 prospect connected on his first home run of the spring, belting a two-run shot in the sixth.
Albert Abreu, the Yankees' No. 3 prospect, tossed two scoreless innings as the final arm out of New York's bullpen. The right-hander struck out two and allowed one hit.

In other spring action:


Nationals 4, Astros 2
Washington's No. 1 prospectVictor Robles singled and walked, scoring twice and stealing his third base of the spring. Baseball's fourth overall prospect leads the Grapefruit League in that category. Second-ranked Houston prospectPeter Solomon finished off his team's day on the mound with a perfect ninth, striking out one batter. Box score
Rays 10, Pirates 4
Pittsburgh's No. 2 prospect Ke'Bryan Hayes laced a double to left and ninth-ranked Kevin Newman collected a pair of hits. Cole Tucker (5) singled and scored and No. 15 Will Craig added an RBI single in the ninth. Pablo Reyes (18) clubbed a solo shot -- his second of the spring. Tenth-ranked Luis Escobar yielded two walks and struck out a batter in a scoreless frame and Nick Burdi (24) yielded a walk in one frame of relief for Pittsburgh. Rays No. 14 prospect Moises Gomez had an RBI groundout in the eighth. Colin Poche (18) allowed a walk and struck out the side in one inning out of Tampa Bay's bullpen. Box score
Red Sox 9, Twins (ss) 7
Top Boston prospect Michael Chavis jacked a solo shot in the fifth, his fourth dinger of the spring. Ninth-ranked C.J. Chatham went 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, three RBIs and a run scored, while No. 25 Josh Ockimey singled and scored. No. 4 Darwinzon Hernandez got the start for the Red Sox and allowed a hit and a pair of walks while fanning three over two scoreless innings. The left-hander has not allowed a run while striking out six over four Grapefruit League frames. Baseball's No. 9 prospect Alex Kirilloff smacked an RBI single in the fifth for Minnesota. Box score
Offseason MiLB include
Yankees (ss) 7, Tigers (ss) 1
Albert Abreu, New York's No. 3 prospect, closed out the win by striking out a pair and allowing a hit over two scoreless frames. Isiah Gilliam stroked an opposite-field solo homer -- one of six roundtrippers by the Yankees. Detroit's No. 19 prospect Spencer Turnbull and No. 25 Zac Houston combined to allow two runs on two hits -- both by Turnbull -- with three strikeouts over three frames. Box score
Orioles 7, Tigers (ss) 5
Top prospect Yusniel Díaz singled twice and No. 4 Austin Hays hit a solo homer and walked in three plate appearances to lead Baltimore. Second-ranked Ryan Mountcastle singled and scored in his lone at-bat. No. 21 prospect Cody Carroll pitched a perfect ninth to record the save. No. 22 Branden Kline gave up a run on two hits with a strikeout while retiring two batters in the fifth. Tigers No. 13 prospect Dustin Peterson and No. 22 Daniel Woodrow combined to go 4-for-6 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. No. 11 Kyle Funkhouser yielded a hit and fanned one in two scoreless innings. No. 26 Gregory Soto retired two batters and surrendered two runs on two hits and three walks. Box score
Braves 6, Marlins 5
No. 3 Miami prospect Monte Harrison singled and brought in a run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Atlanta's No. 28 prospect Alex Jackson slugged a solo homer in the fourth and singled. No. 19 Patrick Weigel tossed a perfect inning of relief for the Braves. Box score
Mets 10, Cardinals 8
Luis Guillorme hit a two-run homer, singled and scored twice to power New York. Mets No. 24 prospect Stephen Villines allowed a run on two hits but picked up the save. No. 26 Kyle Dowdy -- a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Indians -- retired two batters while allowing three runs on two hits and two walks. Cardinals No. 12 prospect Edmundo Sosa and No. 26 Ramón Urías  combined for four hits -- including a double -- and two runs. Seventh-ranked Daniel Ponce de Leon started and was charged with three runs on four hits with two strikeouts in three frames. St. Louis' No. 4 prospect Dakota Hudson allowed two runs and four hits with two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings in relief of Ponce de Leon. Box score
Phillies 3, Twins (ss) 3
Philadelphia's Jake Scheiner stroked a game-tying RBI single in the ninth and Andrew Brown  worked around a hit in the bottom of the frame to force a tie with Minnesota. Box score
Reds 11, Brewers 5
Top Cincinnati prospect Nick Senzel and No. 13 T.J. Friedl went a combined 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and an RBI. Senzel -- the No. 8 overall prospect -- is hitting .462 through four games. Eighth-ranked Vladimir Gutierrez is unscored upon in three appearances, including one start, after striking out a pair over two hitless innings. Top Milwaukee prospect Keston Hiura doubled, singled and drove in a run. Clayton Andrews and Angel Perdomo combined to strike out three across two perfect frames. Box score
Dodgers 6, Rangers (ss) 3
Top Los Angeles prospect Alex Verdugo smacked a pair of doubles, drove in two runs and scored twice. No. 20 prospect Omar Estevez clubbed a solo shot, singled and scored twice. Box score
Royals 13, Indians 7
Meibrys Viloria, Kansas City's No. 19 prospect, went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs and a pair of walks while unranked Frank Schwindel doubled, singled, drove home two and scored once. Foster Griffin fanned three and surrendered one hit in two scoreless innings. Indians No. 11 prospect Yu Chang delivered an RBI single during a four-run first. Tenth-ranked Sam Hentges struck out three and walked one over three hitless frames as Cleveland's starter. Box score
Rangers (ss) 11, Padres 3
Third-ranked San Diego prospect Luis Urías singled and scored. No. 21 Rangers prospect Sam Huff looped an RBI single to center and scored a run. Ninth-ranked prospect Brock Burke fanned three over two scoreless innings to start the game. Box score
Cubs 13, White Sox 4
No. 24 Chicago prospect Dakota Mekkes allowed a walk and whiffed one in a scoreless ninth. Box score
Angels 4, Athletics 1
No. 8 Athletics prospect Jorge Mateo singled and scored on No. 13 Luis Barrera's RBI double in the seventh. Righty Grant Holmes (12) tossed a perfect inning of relief for Oakland. Angels No. 26 prospect Jake Jewell did not allow a baserunner and fanned one in a scoreless frame. Box score
Mariners 7, Diamondbacks 3
Seventh-ranked Mariners prospect Kyle Lewis scored, No. 11 Braden Bishop hit an RBI pinch-hit single and No. 12 Shed Long doubled to left. Seattle's No. 17 prospect Matt Festa and No. 25 David McKay each struck out a pair in scoreless innings of relief. No. 14 D-backs prospect Yoan López whiffed one in one frame. Box score
Rockies 9, Giants 3
Bret Boswell -- Colorado's No. 26 prospect -- singled twice, scored a run and stole a base and No. 10 Sam Hilliard notched a base hit and scored twice. No. 22 Rico Garcia surrendered a run on three hits while fanning two in one frame. Giants No. 15 prospect Melvin Adon struck out one and surrendered a run on one hit in his lone inning. Box score