Guerrero Jr., Grichuk's home runs power Jays to series win over Yankees
T.J. Zeuch pitched 4 scoreless innings for Toronto
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dropped 42 pounds after an underwhelming 2020.
He's hoping less can be more — and the 22-year-old sure still looks like a heavy hitter.
Guerrero and Randal Grichuk homered off Domingo German in the Yankee right-hander's return from a domestic violence ban, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat New York 3-1 Sunday to win a season-opening series against their AL East rival.
"He makes the lineup a lot better," manager Charlie Montoyo said. "That's what we think could happen. That was a beautiful swing to go opposite field."
It was Guerrero's first longball of the season after he hit .262 with nine homers in 60 games last year. The son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero went on a diet over the winter, and teammates have remarked on his energy this spring.
"I feel a lot better this year," he said via translator.
Grichuk wrapped a two-run drive around the left-field foul pole two batters after Guerrero, helping Toronto take two of three.
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"We were coming in with confidence," Montoyo said. "It's even better now."
T.J. Zeuch pitched four scoreless innings for the Blue Jays, and left-hander Ryan Borucki (1-0) got two outs to escape a jam in the sixth. Julian Merryweather got his second save with a perfect ninth.
German (0-1) allowed three runs over three innings in his first appearance since Sept. 18, 2019. He missed all of last season serving an 81-game ban under Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy after an alleged incident involving his girlfriend, with whom he has at least one child.
German repeatedly left the ball up during the second — including on both homers — and was pulled after the third with 68 pitches. He was charged with four hits, a walk and a wild pitch while striking out two.
"It was very exciting to be back on a major league mound and compete," German said via translator. "I wanted to stay calm and take it all in. Definitely had some issues in the game today, but overall, exciting."
Right-hander Michael King followed German with six scoreless innings of one-hit ball. King retired his final 15 batters, baffling Toronto with a five-pitch mix. He walked one and struck out three on 68 pitches. He is the first Yankees reliever with at least six innings and no more than one hit since Bob Shirley on Sept. 21, 1986.
"He's put himself in a good spot to be a real contributor," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the 25-year-old.
