The ball came rocketing off Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s bat at 114 miles an hour. It had an absurdly low 15-degree launch angle, and it landed just over the fence in left field, 356 feet from home plate. And with that — his 45th home run of the year — Guerrero moved into sole possession of the American League lead. One ahead of Shohei Ohtani.
With Guerrero leading the A.L. in batting average (.318) through Monday, and currently only four runs batted in behind the A.L.’s leader (103 to Jose Abreu’s 107), the 27th triple crown in major league history suddenly seems possible.