Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays bid to bounce back vs. Braves

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a new, huge contract but no home runs.

Guerrero will look to flex his muscles on Tuesday night when Toronto hosts the Atlanta Braves.

The Blue Jays held a media conference on Monday afternoon to make Guerrero’s 14-year, $500 million contract extension official. He then went 0-for-4 in an 8-4 loss to the Braves.

Guerrero had a couple of hard-hit balls — a flyout to the warning track in center in the first inning that brought a big roar of anticipation from the crowd, and a line drive to shortstop in the fourth. He finished the game batting .284 with seven RBIs after 17 games. He has four extra-base hits, all doubles.

Toronto’s only homer of Monday’s game came in the sixth inning, when Myles Straw broke up right-hander Grant Holmes’ no-hit bid.

The Blue Jays’ oss took some of the glow away from the feel-good media conference in the afternoon. Guerrero, 26, could have become a free agent after the season but said how much he wanted to remain in Toronto.

“I always thought about this,” he said in the afternoon. “Always. Since I signed here, I always thought I was going to be a Blue Jay forever. That’s what happened today. Thank God we did it. I’m going to be a Blue Jay forever.”

Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Kevin Gausman (1-1, 2.33 ERA) on Tuesday in the middle contest of the three-game series. In three career starts against Atlanta, he is 0-1 with a 2.29 ERA. The loss came last season, when he allowed three runs in six innings.

Right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach (1-0, 0.45) is Atlanta’s scheduled starter on Tuesday. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in one career start against Toronto. That came last season, when he allowed three runs in five innings.

On Monday, the Braves received two home runs and five RBIs from Austin Riley plus a two-run blast from Sean Murphy. Each player has four home runs this season and combined have one fewer homer than the Blue Jays.

“It was a complete win,” Riley said. “We needed that.”

The Braves are trying to overcome an 0-7 start to the season.

“Hopefully, it will breed confidence. … and we go on a roll,” manager Brian Snitker said after Monday’s win. “There were a lot of positive things tonight.”

The Braves were without Marcell Ozuna, who is listed as day-to-day with hip inflammation. He was sent to Atlanta for an MRI, and it showed no serious injury.

“So he’ll be back and getting treatment every day,” Snitker said before Monday’s game. “He’ll kind of take it as a day-to-day thing.”

Ozuna will not play in Toronto. He started Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays but was removed because of the hip.

Atlanta reinstated left-hander Aaron Bummer from the bereavement list Monday and optioned right-hander Michael Petersen to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Bummer replaced Holmes with two outs in the eighth and allowed two inherited runners to score and also gave up a run in the ninth.

Snitker said he was pleased to need only two pitchers after the bullpen was used heavily against Tampa Bay on the weekend.

–Field Level Media