“Classic a** whooping” – Fans erupt as Yankees respond to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s monster homer with intentional walk in ALDS Game 3

The New York Yankees fans must be hating the sight of Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as the All-Star infielder smashed a home run for a third consecutive ALDS game on Tuesday.

Guerrero Jr. smashed a two-run home run at the top of the first inning against Yankees ace Carlos Rodon to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. With the Blue Jays superstar smashing a home run for a third time in the series, the Yankees intentionally walked him on his next at-bat in the third inning.

Fans reacted to the Bronx Bombers intentionally walking the Blue Jays star in a do-or-die game.

"No sign stealing just classic a** whooping," wrote a fan.

"Smartest thing Boone has done all series actually," claimed a fan.

"Yankees used to be feared man. Now the oppositions are begging to play them in October," wrote a fan.

"Good thing the Yankees are already home," mocked a fan.

"Love to see them suffer," rejoined a fan.

"'The Yankees just aren't a good baseball team' - the Blue Jays were right," claimed a fan.

The move backfired for the Yankees as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached second base on Daulton Varsho's RBI single and then hustled home to score a run on Ernie Clement's single to make it 4-1 for the Blue Jays. Anthony Santander smashed a two-run single to make it 6-1 in the third inning as Boone pulled Rodon from the mound.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. makes history against Yankees in ALDS Game 3

After smashing a two-run home run to start the game, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. became only the second player in MLB history to go deep thrice and have multiple RBIs in the first three games of a postseason. He joined MLB icon Hank Aaron on the distinguished list.

It hasn't been all power from Guerrero as he showed his athleticism to get to home plate in the third inning. Per Statcast, he reached a sprint speed of 29.3 feet/second before going airborne and diving headfirst to score a run.

His heroics went in vain as the Yankees completed a remarkable turnaround from 6-1 down to win 9-6 and keep themselves alive in the series.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash