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Vlad Jr. bests his HOF dad with historic 3-HR game

Sam Greenwood / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. managed to one-up his Hall of Fame dad just 205 games into his own career.

The Toronto Blue Jays first baseman broke out on Tuesday, slugging three home runs with seven RBI during a 9-5 victory over the Washington Nationals in Dunedin. Guerrero's father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., recorded 42 multi-homer games over his 16-year career - but never hit three.

Guerrero Sr., who hit 449 home runs and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018, saluted his progeny on social media:

Besting his dad wasn't the only history Guerrero Jr. made on Tuesday. The 22-year-old is the youngest player since at least 1901 to record exactly three homers and seven RBIs in one game, according to MLB Stats, and he's also the seventh-youngest with a three-homer game.

Two of Guerrero Jr.'s homers, including a grand slam, came off Max Scherzer. The Nationals ace is now one of two pitchers, alongside Ivan Nova, to have surrendered home runs to both Vlad Jr. and Sr., according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. The elder Guerrero hit a pair off Scherzer in nine plate appearances.

Guerrero Jr., who now owns a .360/.484/.693 slash line with an AL-best seven homers this year, called Tuesday "the number one game" of his big-league career, according to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

"I'm feeling very blessed right now," he added, according to Matheson. "Hitting two homers against a legend (Scherzer) like that, it's unbelievable what I'm feeling right now. It's all in my preparation, in the work that I'm putting in before the games, and I thank God that it's paying off."

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