Imagine your best player finally finding his groove after going 0-for-7 in a pair of losses at home. Now imagine them hitting their fourth in the eighth inning and running towards third base to complete the cycle. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened with the Toronto Blue Jays’ star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the team’s 13-4 win at T-Mobile Park on Wednesday. As it turns out, he had a reason to miss the big historical leap.

While speaking with Derek Jeter after the game, he opened up about his questionable on-field decisions. The MLB legend asked him, “In the history of the sport, there has been one cycle in the postseason. How could you stop at the second base, man?”

“I mean, I just looked at the third base coach, you know. He stopped me,” Guerrero Jr. replied. “You gotta listen to your coach. To me, when I hit it, I was just trying to go to third when I looked to third and [Carlos] Febles stopped me. I think he no realize that point.”

When they entered T-Mobile Park on Wednesday, the team was down 0-2 against the Seattle Mariners, and Guerrero Jr. was unable to be the offensive mind that he always is for the Blue Jays. But entering Game 3 of the ALCS, his offense broke out when it was needed the most.

He smacked a 406-foot home run to center field in the fifth inning, which moved him just a triple shy of the cycle with plenty of game left. He was intentionally walked in the sixth, but saw an opportunity in the eighth after poking an 83-mph curveball in the middle of the zone to the right-field gap and dug for extra bases. He rounded first and booked it for second. All he needed was one more base to complete the second cycle of his professional career.

However, he appeared to take too big a step as he rounded first, which put him a bit off balance. And so, he didn’t push for the triple. Once he stood on the second, he realized what he had missed. The dugout, too, did not seem very happy about his halt either, wanting him to push for one more. But as he explained, the coach probably didn’t know about the record either, or he would’ve asked him to push as well.

As the hardest piece of the cycle, you can’t fault Guerrero for not reaching third.

The Canadian-Dominican first baseman was 4-for-4 with a walk on the night, recording his only RBI via a solo homer in the fifth. But he can achieve it in Game 4, slated for Thursday night at T-Mobile Park with the Mariners leading 2-1.

With that, the Yankees legend had some advice for him.

According to Jeter, the next time Vladdy is a triple away from the cycle, he should “blink and tell him you didn’t see him.” We can see the motivation from everyone, given that Guerrero Jr. would’ve been the only player to hit for a cycle in the postseason after Brock Holt.

The Boston Red Sox legend achieved the rare feat in the 2018 ALDS Game 3 against the New York Yankees. In that game, Holt singled to center in the fourth inning, then tripled to right later in the same inning as the Red Sox batted around. Holt hit a ground-rule double in the top of the eighth and got another at-bat in the ninth inning, where he hit a home run to complete the cycle, his second total in the major league.

He finished the game 4-for-6 with five RBIs and three runs scored. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 16–1 in that game at Yankee Stadium en route to a 3–1 series win. Holt and the Red Sox also went on to win the World Series, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

Hitting for the cycle is as rare as throwing a no-hitter. A single, double, triple, and home run in the same game has only been achieved by 348 players to date. And as mentioned before, only Holt has achieved it in both the regular season and the postseason.

No doubt the Blue Jays still had a superstar performance from the face of their franchise as the entire offense seemed to breathe again.

The Blue Jays came alive as the offense took charge to cut the ALCS deficit

Entering Game 4 with 0-for-7 in the series, Guerrero Jr. erupted with four hits, and his breakout helped the Blue Jays get on the board. While the Blue Jays trail 2–1, Vladdy’s postseason numbers are nothing short of incredible. He’s currently hitting .464 with four home runs, 10 RBIs, and only one strikeout. The momentum also shifted when Andrés Giménez slammed a two-run homer to tie the score in the third inning. Even manager John Schneider acknowledged it after the game.

And not just Schneider, Guerrero Jr., who himself had a nearly historic night, praised Giménez. “When you tie the game like that, everything changes.”

Toronto’s offense, which had been comparatively quiet through the first two matchups, finally exploded on Wednesday night. All four—Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Addison Barger—homered. On the pitching side, Shane Bieber stepped up after he gave up an early home run. He found his rhythm to keep the Mariners away from the lead.

Now, in Game 4, veteran Max Scherzer is set to take the mound, making his postseason debut. Clearly, the Blue Jays are back in the fight. It’s time to see if they can make it 2-2!