Guerrero Jr. crushes 16th homer of the season to open the scoring vs. Royals

Watch as Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. kicks off the scoring in his team’s matchup with the Kansas City Royals by blasting a sinking fastball over the left field fence for his 16th home run of the season.

Despite a recent slide, the Toronto Blue Jays are still tied atop the American League.

After dropping five of six, the Blue Jays will look to get back on track in Game 2 of a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals Saturday at the Rogers Centre.

Catch the action on Sportsnet with Blue Jays Central coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT.

The Blue Jays send Max Scherzer to the bump, fresh off facing his old team, the Detroit Tigers, on his 41st birthday on July 27.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner has pitched to a 4.89 ERA, striking out 39 and only walking eight over 35 innings this season. Scherzer’s 1.09 WHIP would lead all Blue Jays starters, were he qualified.

He’ll face off against a starter 15 years his junior, Noah Cameron, who has put together a strong rookie season for the Royals.

The 26-year-old lefty has a 2.44 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in his first 14 big-league starts, striking out 71 and walking 23 over 81 innings.

The Blue Jays struggled against right-hander Michael Wacha in Game 1 on Friday, notching only three hits over the veteran’s eight innings and scoring one run on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. solo smash in the first.

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Kevin Gausman also scuffled, allowing five runs on six hits over six innings. New Royals acquisition Mike Yastrzemski and star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. each went yard as Gausman allowed 12 hard-hit balls in the 9-3 Toronto loss.

Blue Jays’ deadline acquisition Louis Varland looked strong in one inning of relief, pitching a clean seventh with one strikeout while his fastball topped out at 99.3 m.p.h., tied for the hardest pitch thrown by a Blue Jay this season.

Meanwhile, fellow newcomer Ty France was unsuccessful at the plate, going 0-for-4. France is back in the starting lineup for Saturday, batting sixth as the designated hitter.

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async function fetchOddsData(league, gameId) {
const res = await fetch(`{league}&id=${gameId}`, {
cache: ‘no-store’,
});

if (!res.ok) {
throw new Error(‘Failed to fetch odds data’);
}

const data = await res.json();
const oddsData = data?.data?.game?.details?.current_line;
const visitingTeam = data?.data?.game?.visiting_team;
const visitingTeamLogo = data?.data?.game?.visiting_team?.image_url_90;
const homeTeam = data?.data?.game?.home_team;
const homeTeamLogo = data?.data?.game?.home_team?.image_url_90;
const gameTimestamp = data?.data?.game?.details?.timestamp;

return { oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp };
}

async function renderBetMGM(componentId, league, gameId) {
let oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp, error;

const container = document.getElementById(componentId + ‘-odds’);
if (!container) return;

try {
({ oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp } = await fetchOddsData(league, gameId));
} catch (err) {
error = err.message;
}

if (error) {
container.innerHTML = `

Error: ${error}

`;
return;
}

if (!oddsData) {
container.innerHTML = `

Odds data not available

`;
return;
}

let gameDate = new Date(gameTimestamp * 1000);
const gameDateFormatted = gameDate.toLocaleDateString(‘en-US’, { year: ‘numeric’, month: ‘long’, day: ‘numeric’ });

container.innerHTML = `

${gameDateFormatted}

$${visitingTeam.short_name} Logo$

$${homeTeam.short_name} Logo$

Moneyline

${visitingTeam.short_name}

${oddsData.away_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.away_money}` : oddsData.away_money}

${homeTeam.short_name}

${oddsData.home_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.home_money}` : oddsData.home_money}

Spread

${oddsData.fav_id === visitingTeam.id
? oddsData.fav_points
: oddsData.fav_points > 0 ? `-${oddsData.fav_points}` : `+${Math.abs(oddsData.fav_points)}`}

${oddsData.fav_id === visitingTeam.id
? oddsData.fav_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.fav_money}` : oddsData.fav_money
: oddsData.underdog_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.underdog_money}` : oddsData.underdog_money}

${oddsData.fav_id === homeTeam.id
? oddsData.fav_points
: oddsData.fav_points > 0 ? `-${oddsData.fav_points}` : `+${Math.abs(oddsData.fav_points)}`}

${oddsData.fav_id === homeTeam.id
? oddsData.fav_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.fav_money}` : oddsData.fav_money
: oddsData.underdog_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.underdog_money}` : oddsData.underdog_money}

Over/Under

O ${oddsData.total}

${oddsData.over_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.over_money}` : oddsData.over_money}

U ${oddsData.total}

${oddsData.under_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.under_money}` : oddsData.under_money}

${gameDateFormatted}

$${visitingTeam.short_name} Logo$

$${homeTeam.short_name} Logo$

`;
}

// Example usage
renderBetMGM(‘block_c6c4b9b527b05a8cd55efdf18313f3db’, ‘MLB’, ‘3e381531-26ab-47b0-874e-27dedfd122d1’);

The Blue Jays remain without Alejandro Kirk and George Springer, who are both on the 7-day concussion injured list after taking a foul tip off the mask and a fastball to the helmet, respectively.

However, Daulton Varsho returned on Friday after two months on the IL, registering an 0-for-3 day at the plate while making a few catches in centre. Varsho will start on the bench for Saturday’s game.

Toronto is tied with the Detroit Tigers for first in the AL with a 64-47 record and is 1.5 games up on the Houston Astros. The New York Yankees remained 3.5 games back of the Blue Jays in the AL East Friday night with a 13-12 walk-off loss to the Miami Marlins.

The top two teams in the AL get a bye to the ALDS.