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Never count out those Toronto Blue Jays. Led by their young star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Jays have as much offensive firepower as any Major League Baseball team.

That was on display Tuesday night when the Jays rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull out a 6-5 win over the Boston Red Sox. Not only did Guerrero drive in the winning run, but he knew it was coming before he stepped into the box.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. called his game-winning hit against the Boston Red Sox

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates his walk-off single in the ninth inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-5 at the Rogers Centre on June 28, 2022, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. | Mark Blinch/Getty Images.

For now, the American League East is a battle for second place. The New York Yankees hold a 13-game lead over the second-place Blue Jays as the Jays head into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Sox. The Jays and Sox, however, are the top two teams in the wild-card race, and they battled it out Tuesday.

The Blue Jays headed to the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday down 5-4 against their American League East rival Red Sox. Bo Bichette singled home the tying run before Guerrero drove home George Springer with a game-winning single.

Guerrero knew what was going to happen before he stepped up to the plate.

“I told (manager) Charlie (Montoyo) before my at-bat, ‘The game is over,’” Guerrero said, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

“He was telling me that he was going to end the game,” Montoyo said. “I like when he does that because when you do that as a player, you’re psyching yourself up. He’s good at that. He knew that if he got a chance to hit, this game was going to end. He already had that mindset going in.”

For Guerrero, victory was sweet against the surging Sox

It may only be June, but the Jays celebrated like they earned a World Series berth. That’s no knock on the Jays. They’re an energized bunch and they know the Sox are a team they’ll face down the stretch as the playoffs draw near.

After an ugly start to the season, the Red Sox have made their way into the playoff picture after going 19-6 so far in June. Beating them for the second straight night was a big deal for Guerrero and the Jays.

“This feels very special,” Guerrero said, “playing against Boston, a great team like they are, in the same division. It’s very special.”

Guerrero said he had a feeling the Jays were putting at least two on the board in the ninth after pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk opened the bottom of the ninth with a single.

“To tell you the truth, once I saw Kirk pinch-hitting, and he got the base hit, I knew right then that we were going to win this game,” Guerrero said. “The top of the lineup with one, two, and three up next? We were going to win this game, for sure.”

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Mike Thomas

Mike Thomas spent 23 years on staff and 16 years as the sports editor at The Herald News in Fall River, Mass., before joining Sportscasting in 2020. Mike has a deep knowledge of and passion for the NFL and NBA, and he excels at interviewing sports celebrities to find out their Super Bowl picks.

A New England Newspaper and Press Association award-winning columnist and an avid sports memorabilia collector, Mike enjoys keeping up with all the sports news and the works of former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly. You can find more of Mike’s work on Muck Rack.