Vlad Jr. stays hot with three more hits

When Aaron Mathews coaches first base, the Rookie-level Bluefield hitting coach gets a good idea just how studious Vladimir Guerrero Jr. really is.

"There will be times when he comes to first base and tells me what they're doing to him," Mathews said. "Whether it be throwing him a slider down and away, he knows it's coming. He knows that fastball is coming at the right time."

Guerrero's hard work has allowed him to pay his coach plenty of visits.

The Blue Jays' No. 7 prospect recorded his second straight three-hit game and tied his career high with three RBIs as Bluefield topped Elizabethton, 9-6, at Bowen Field.

On Friday, Guerrero put together his first two-homer game as a pro against Pulaski, but teammate and close friend Bradley Jones stole the show with seven RBIs on two blasts of his own.

Against the E-Twins, the 17-year-old took control from his first at-bat, singling to left field before scoring the Blue Jays' first run on a single by Javier Monzon. Though he flied to left in the second, he drove in a run with a two-out single up the middle in the fourth before plating two more with a single to left in the sixth.

"He stayed with his same approach he's been taking to the plate," Mathews said. "His early work in the cage and batting practice stays the same with his regular approach and his same mindset. He takes that into the game, and it's fun to watch a 17-year-old kid having the same approach every day and learning pitchers."

Guerrero hit safely in his fifth straight game, helping him raise his August batting average to .333 in 13 games. The son of former American League MVP Vladimir Guerrero isn't just doing damage with base hits either, as he's struck out 26 times in 177 Appalachian League at-bats.

"If there's a runner on second base with no outs and he doesn't get the pitch that he wants, there will be times where he'll move the guy over to third base so his other teammates can get that runner in," Mathews said. "And there will be times where he'll know that the pitcher is going to throw him something out over the plate where he can handle it and drive it, too. He adjusts to every pitcher."

Guerrero's drive to learn is something Mathews said he doesn't often see from players that age, but it makes the hitting coach's job somewhat easier.

"I don't say much to him," Mathews said. "If he comes to me, then I will let him come to me. Other than that, I kind of just keep him doing his same routine in the cage or in early work on the field and in batting practice.

"The ability that Vladdy has and that God-given talent -- and he's been around the game so long, especially with his dad -- you don't see that too often at this level."

Javier Monzon added a pair of singles and drove in two runs for the Blue Jays.

Starter Joel Espinal (2-0) got the win, despite allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 5 2/3 frames. Connor Eller gave up an unearned run and two hits over the final two innings for his league-leading sixth save. 

Elizabethton's Jose Martinez (1-4) yielded seven runs on nine hits and three walks while striking out three in five innings.

Sixth-ranked Twins prospect Alex Kiriloff went 2-for-5 and smacked his sixth homer of the season.