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Blue Jays hold on for win over Yankees in Guerrero Jr.'s return

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22.08.2026

NEW YORK — You likely remember the third-base collision Vladimir Guerrero Jr. withstood at Rogers Centre last weekend, meeting George Lombard Jr.’s left knee with his head while sliding around a potential tag. The Blue Jays first baseman wishes he could say the same.

“When I went to home plate, I was out — completely,” Guerrero said during a conversation at Tropicana Field earlier this week. “I realized what happened when I saw the replay.”

Guerrero has no recollection of the play, of getting up to score a tying run as the ball skipped into foul territory, of returning to the dugout for a procession of high fives. His lone memory is of his teammate, Andres Gimenez, coming up to him as he sat in the dugout and saying, ‘Hey, keep your head up.’

Evidently, the Blue Jays shortstop wasn’t the only one concerned. Guerrero was immediately lifted from the game and entered MLB’s concussion protocol after finding the lights and music in the post-game clubhouse too disorienting to withstand. He couldn’t drive himself home that night and awoke the next morning with a headache and dizziness. 

“I've been talking with a lot of players that have had concussions and they told me that you're going to feel a little bit tired, maybe you're going to feel a bit dizzy,” Guerrero said. “I was worried. But after I talked with some players and they told me what it is, I was normal.”

Technically, this is the second concussion of Guerrero’s career, after he suffered one as an 18-year-old while playing winterball in the Dominican Republic. But then, he missed only two games. This one cost him six, which is why Guerrero calls it his first “real” head injury.

“This one,” he said, “is way different.”

Guerrero’s symptoms began to dissipate on Monday during an off day in St/ Petersburg, Fla. and by Tuesday he was feeling well enough to do some running and light hitting indoors. Wednesday, he made it through a........

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