Guerrero Jr. Delivers in 10th as Blue Jays Rally Past Brewers

Sometimes a game tells you everything you need to know about a team’s character, and Tuesday night’s 9-7 Blue Jays victory over the Brewers was exactly that kind of gut-check. This wasn’t a masterpiece of pitching or defense. This was two teams refusing to quit, trading blows in a back-and-forth slug fest that didn’t conclude until extra innings, and when the dust settled, Toronto had the grit to survive while Milwaukee’s resilience ultimately fell short.

The Brewers came out swinging in the fourth inning when Jake Bauers launched a three-run bomb off Grant Anderson, a moon shot to center that gave Milwaukee an early 3-0 lead and seemed to put the Blue Jays on their heels. But this Toronto team has a different DNA than the pushovers of years past. They answered immediately in the fifth when Andrés Giménez connected for a solo shot, refusing to get blown out of the game despite the deficit.

Daulton Varsho continued the Blue Jays’ response in the sixth with his own blast to right-center, cutting into the Milwaukee advantage. Gary Sánchez matched that with a solo homer in the seventh for the Brewers, keeping them just slightly ahead. What unfolded was a chess match where neither team could seize control, a tug-of-war that tested both offenses in the most grueling possible way.

Here’s where it got interesting. The ninth inning became theater. Myles Straw, Kazuma Okamoto, and Ernie Clement engineered a Toronto rally that had the Brewers reeling. But Milwaukee wouldn’t lay down, and William Contreras’ gritty at-bat brought the home crowd back into it. Brice Turang and Brandon Lockridge kept the Brewers alive with clutch hits that forced extra innings. Both bullpens had been burning arms like it was October.

Guerrero Jr. Breaks Through When It Matters Most

The tenth inning belonged to the Blue Jays, and specifically to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is exactly the type of player you want at the plate when the game is on the line. His sharp line drive to left field brought Ernie Clement home and gave Toronto a 9-7 advantage. Myles Straw doubled that lead with a two-run double on the very next at-bat, and suddenly the Brewers were staring down defeat.

Louis Varland, who came out of the Blue Jays bullpen in a limited role, sealed the victory with a composed 1.1 innings of work. Grant Anderson took the loss, unable to navigate the chaos of a game that demanded excellence he couldn’t deliver.

Toughness Wins Ugly Games

Make no mistake: this wasn’t a display of surgical baseball excellence. It was messy, it was exhausting, and it went ten innings. But it revealed something critical about the 2026 Blue Jays. They have depth in their lineup that can contribute. They have the mettle to answer punches rather than fold. Varsho, Giménez, and Guerrero Jr. all made meaningful contributions when their team needed them most.

The Brewers will rue the opportunities they let slip away, particularly their inability to close out a team they had in trouble early. That’s baseball, and that’s why October is unforgiving to teams that can’t finish.