Vladimir Guerrero Jr. draws standing ovation for 13-pitch at bat

A 13-pitch, ninth-inning at-bat from rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. may have ended in a double play, but it had his Blue Jays teammates and manager filled with marvel on Sunday.

In the final inning of Toronto's 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees, Guerrero was called on to pinch-hit for catcher Reese McGuire. Brandon Drury had led off the inning with a sharp single to left field, ending a brilliant two-hit performance from Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka.

In came closer Aroldis Chapman, in search of his 31st save. He swiftly went ahead on Guerrero with two swinging strikes on four-seam fastballs.

Then the fun began.

Guerrero fouled seven of the next 10 pitches while taking three balls. Chapman mixed some mid-80 mile-per-hour sliders with 100 mph fastballs. Guerrero got ahead of one of those sliders on the sixth pitch and hit a shot off the facing of the fifth deck, 20 feet to the left of the left-field foul pole.

After that swing, the 27,790 fans inside the Rogers Centre and players milling about in the dugouts and clubhouses were extra excited about this battle.

WATCH | Tanaka takes out Blue Jays batters:

Vlad Jr.'s battles 13-pitch at-bat against Yankees' flamethrower, brings stadium to its feet

5 years ago

Duration 2:03

Masahiro Tanaka allowed just 3 hits over 8 scoreless innings as the New York Yankees squeaked out a 1-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"I was sitting beside [injured pitcher Ryan] Boruki in the locker room, and our hands were sweating," said Blue Jays starter Trent Thornton, who bounced back with a strong three-hit, six-inning outing of his own.

"If he connects that thing is going a long, long way."

Guerrero finally hit a ball into play, a hard-hit shot to Gleyber Torres. The Yankees shortstop flipped a throw to second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, who relayed a throw to first for a double play.

"That's obviously, in a lot of ways, the ball game there," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "In a very well-played, 1-0 game you've got a young, rising, great-looking hitter against the game's dominant closer. It was a great match to watch those two guys go at it."

Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette ripped a single to left field for his second hit of the game to keep the inning going. But Chapman finally ended the proceedings by striking out Cavan Biggio.

"It took Chapman 27 pitches to get out three young guys," Montoyo said. "That was pretty cool."

Bichette has reached base in each of his 14 games to extend his club record to start a career. The Blue Jays have gone 9-5 since he was promoted from triple-A Buffalo on July 29.

"This past a week-and-a-half it's been a fun atmosphere in the locker room, and hopefully we can keep it going the rest of the year," said Biggio after Toronto split its four-game series against the Yankees.

"These past four games against one of the best teams in the whole league shows that we're able to compete right now."