Vladimir Guerrero Jr. goes deep, but Blue Jays fall to Reds

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Perhaps Joey Votto should have been called up from the minors to face his former team.

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At least the presence of Etobicoke’s own would have added some much-needed juice to a night featuring so few moments worth remembering.

Votto has struggled to stay healthy, and when healthy he has struggled at the plate.

In terms of merit, a callup wasn’t warranted.

In terms of spice and drama, Votto facing his former Reds team would have had the joint jumping the moment the future hall of famer was seen wearing a Blue Jays jersey.

It wasn’t meant to be Monday, the first of a three-game series against Cincinnati, but there’s still time for the Votto-Jays reunion to fully be embraced on the big-league stage.

One of the smallest home crowds of the season, which was announced at 25,603, was in attendance as the Blue Jays, who were back home following a 4-2 road trip, fell to the Reds, 6-3.

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A lot of the pre-game conversation was focused on veteran pitcher Chris Bassitt and his frank conversation he shared on the Chris Rose Rotation podcast.

Bassitt has never been shy to express an opinion — but he’s also the same person who blamed the Rogers Centre roof being closed for his horrible six-run first inning a week ago Sunday against Oakland.

One of the items he broached on the podcast involved Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with Bassitt saying Vlad Jr. is the best hitter he’s seen.

There is plenty of merit behind those words, and they bore out Monday when Vlad Jr. went deep to the second deck in left field to record his 26th home run of the season.

In his next at-bat, Guerrero was hit by a pitch on his left arm.

Outside of Vlad Jr.’s dinger, the night was short on highlights.

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Mind you, fans were able to catch their first glimpse of new Blue Jay Will Wagner, who started at second base with the Reds using right-handed pitcher Julian Aguiar in his MLB debut.

In Wagner’s debut in Anaheim, he recorded his first hit on the very first pitch he saw.

Monday, he hit a single into right field in his first plate appearance at Rogers Centre, his ninth hit in 11 at-bats against right-handed pitching to begin his big-league career.

There was some anticipation surrounding Kevin Gausman’s start as the veteran righty was attempting to earn his 100th win.

It wasn’t meant to be.

Gausman struck out Tyler Stephenson to begin the sixth inning, but Alejandro Kirk failed to secure the third strike, allowing Stephenson to reach base.

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TJ Friedl hit a single, and that was all for Gausman, who was lifted for Ryan Burr.

Burr entered in a 2-2 game with two on and none out.

In the blink of an eye, the Jays were suddenly facing a four-run deficit after Burr yielded three doubles to almost the identical spot in right-centre.

With one out in the ninth inning, Ernie Clement hit his eighth home run of the season.

BO SHOW

Bo Bichette’s future continues to be a hot topic in baseball circles. Bichette is a supremely confident and at times talented shortstop, whose 2024 season has been plagued by injury and under-performance.

Over the weekend, one of baseball’s most respected and trusted chroniclers of the sport in Bob Nightengale of USA Today had an item on Bichette.

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“The Toronto Blue Jays are expected to entertain trade offers this winter for shortstop Bo Bichette, who has no plans to stay in Toronto once he’s a free agent after the 2025 season,’’ penned Nightengale.

Does Bo stay or does Bo go will go unresolved until a contract gets negotiated or a trade is engineered, either this off-season, which doesn’t seem likely, or at next year’s trade deadline, which is the more logical timeline if a deal does play out.

Bichette has been inactive since July 19 after he sustained his third calf injury of the season.

Bichette is back in Florida and is expected to begin running by the end of the week, per manager John Schneider.

Bichette has appeared in 79 games for the Blue Jays this season. Monday’s game was the Jays’ 124th of the season.

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TAKE A BOW(DEN)

Fans acknowledged Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis’ honour after the righty was named AL player of the week following two scintillating starts, the first in Anaheim, the most recent on Sunday in a 1-0 win over the host Cubs.

In each start, Bowden went seven complete innings.

Just prior to Monday night’s first pitch, the video screen in centre field featured Francis, prompting the assembled gathering to applaud his weekly award.

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ESPY AWARD

Fans were equally gracious when Santiago Espinal was introduced when he stepped up to the plate for the first time.

The popular utility infielder played for the Blue Jays and was named to an all-star team during his stint in Toronto.

When the crowd began its applause, Espinal stepped out of the box and waved.

He then tapped his heart before tipping his cap, igniting even more adulation from the crowd.

Espinal then ripped a double down the left-field line off Gausman and would come around to score Cincinnati’s first run.

BRIEFLY

Toronto claimed LHP Easton Lucas off waivers from the Detroit Tigers and optioned him to triple-A Buffalo.

In a pure clerical move, RHP Alek Manoah (elbow) has been moved to the 60-day IL.

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