WASHINGTON — Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. left Tuesday night’s 8-6 loss to the Washington Nationals with right hamstring tightness.
He was replaced in the bottom of the fourth inning by Kazuma Okamoto.
Guerrero, a six-time All-Star, grounded into a double play and reached on an infield single in his two at-bats.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Guerrero felt tightness when he touched first base on his single and turned toward second after an errant throw.
“He was a little sore and he wanted to stay in,” Schneider said. “It was my call just to be careful with him and not have anything worse happen. … He checked out pretty good and we’ll see how he is tomorrow. It’s a quick turnaround and, again, just trying to be smart with him. I don’t want to lose him for an extended period of time.”
Guerrero is hitting .265 with six homers and 44 RBIs this season.
He also owns a .702 OPS, which would be the worst in his eight-year career.
Those numbers are a steep decline from last season, when Guerrero hit 23 homers, tallied 84 RBIs and posted an .848 OPS to help the Blue Jays win the AL East.
The 27-year-old slugger has played at least 156 games in each of the past five seasons.
He has played in 103 of Toronto’s 108 games this year.
The Blue Jays (49-59) are in last place in the AL East and trail the division-leading Rays by 14 games, and they sit 5 1/2 games out of a playoff spot following last year’s run to Game 7 of the World Seires.
There are questions about whether veteran starter Kevin Gausman will be traded at this year’s deadline, and veteran outfielder/designated hitter George Springer will be a free agent after the season ends.
–With AP
