MONTREAL -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a solo home run with two out in the ninth inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the final pre-season game for both clubs on Tuesday night.
Guererro, the 19-year-old son of the former Montreal Expos star, hammered a Jack Flaherty pitch over the wall in left-centre field to a huge roar from the crowd of 25,816 at Olympic Stadium, many of whom had seen his Hall of Fame-bound father produce similar heroics in the early 2000s.
It was only the third hit of the game for the Blue Jays, although Guerrero had come close in his first at-bat in the sixth but was thrown out at first after a hard ground ball up the middle.
Toronto ended the pre-season 14-18 while St. Louis went 17-13.
Another crowd favourite, Russell Martin, who started at third base as Luke Maile took over behind the plate, went 0 for 2.
Blue Jays starter Joe Biagini went five innings, allowing five hits and striking out six.
The Cardinals pre-game batting practice ended early as a 20-minute power outage hit Olympic Stadium and the surrounding neighbourhood.
Several Montreal Canadiens players took batting practice before the Blue Jays, including defenceman Jeff Petry whose father Dan Petry pitched, mainly for Detroit, in the 1980s.
