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Toronto Blue Jays Key Contributor Moves Up Team History Books in Friday Win

The Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a historic milestone.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a double against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 13.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a double against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre on Sept 13. / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night at Rogers Centre. The 4-3 win in extra-innings moved Toronto to 70-78 on the season.

It's been a frustrating season for the Jays, who have dealt with injury and regression, as well as a roster reset at the trade deadline. They are going to miss the playoffs after being in them each of the last two seasons.

In the win on Friday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI.

Though the team around him has slumped, he's having a great year, hitting .320 with 28 homers, 95 RBI and a .940 OPS. Guerrero Jr. figures to finish in the top-ten of American League MVP voting. The double was his 70th extra-base hit of the season, which moved him up a special list in team history.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Most 70+ extra base hit seasons in @BlueJays history:
6- Carlos Delgado
4- Joe Carter
3- Vernon Wells
2- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Via his RBI double vs STL tonight)
2- Jesse Barfield
2- George Bell
2- Shawn Green
2- Alex Rios
2- Jose Bautista
2- Josh Donaldson
2- Edwin Encarnacion

Moving forward, the question will be if Guerrero Jr. will get many more chances to move up this list even further. Heading into a contract year in 2025, no one quite knows how the Guerrero Jr. situation will play out.

The Jays could extend him and allow him the opportunity to become one of the greatest players in franchise history. Or, they could trade him. They could also let the 2025 season play out and see what happens, but regardless, his future will be one of the most critical decisions that the franchise has made in the last decade.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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