Anything you can do, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can do better.

Just hours after Shohei Ohtani launched his 24th home run of the season down in St. Petersburg, Guerrero stepped to the plate at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y., and hit No. 25. Setting the pace in this star-studded race, Guerrero seems to punch the gas each time he feels the pack pulling up behind him.

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Guerrero and Ohtani have already made the American League MVP Award into a two-man race, and when you factor in Fernando Tatis Jr. -- who hit three homers Friday to tie Guerrero for the MLB lead with 25 -- Kyle Schwarber (22) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (20), the battle for the home run crown might just be one of baseball’s best stories over the next three-plus months.

Guerrero refuses to let anyone pull ahead, though, and his laser over the centre-field wall in Friday’s 6-5 10-inning loss to the Orioles -- which left the park in an instant -- is just another chapter in what’s developing into one of the best seasons in Blue Jays history.

Like we’ve too often seen, though, another big night from Guerrero was for naught. The Blue Jays’ bullpen dealt with some old ghosts, first when Tyler Chatwood struggled and later when Trent Thornton walked three in the 10th inning, allowing the Orioles to pull ahead. On a night that Guerrero, starter Alek Manoah and the lineup deserved a win to extend their five-game winning streak, one weakness held them back.

“You can’t come in from the bullpen and walk people,” said manager Charlie Montoyo after the loss, which ended the O's 20-game road losing streak. “That was it. Five walks in the last few innings, that’s just too many."

What makes this Blue Jays lineup special on nights that it’s clicking is that Guerrero is no longer a one-man show. That was the case at times earlier this season as the Blue Jays battled injuries and slow starts, but they’ve found their level as one of MLB’s strongest, deepest groups. Getting George Springer back in the lineup this week certainly didn’t hurt, and the $150 million man showed exactly what he’s capable of to open the scoring Friday.

Springer hit his first home run since returning from the IL in the second, a 417-foot shot to center. As he rounded second base with his fist raised in the air, it was Guerrero who was bouncing out of the dugout and skipping along the fence to celebrate with him.

This home run from Springer showed just how impressive his raw power can be. It wasn’t a meatball or an inside fastball that he turned on with perfect timing, but a low-and-outside slider from O's starter Matt Harvey that he lunged out to barrel up. Springer’s career high of 39 home runs came back in 2019 over just 122 games, and while that’s out of reach given all the time he’s missed recovering from quad injuries, it’s clear just how impactful his bat can be in the top five of this lineup with Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, Guerrero and Teoscar Hernández, whichever order they line up in the long term.

“That was impressive,” Montoyo said. “Not many guys can hit that ball out. Some guys hit the ball good, but their ball doesn’t go out to center. Vladdy and Springer, those guys just have that much power. It was just impressive, a ball on the outside corner and hitting it deep to center. That’s a good sign.”

Both home runs were solo shots, though, and the Blue Jays needed Manoah to keep things close through the middle innings. The 23-year-old, who’s currently appealing his five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Maikel Franco in Toronto’s last series against Baltimore, gave the Blue Jays exactly what they needed, going six innings with just one unearned run and six strikeouts. Getting stronger as the game went on, Manoah appears to be settling in with the Blue Jays after his meteoric rise in spring and some early lessons learned in the Majors.

“I was able to go out there and get ahead of guys, a lot of 0-1 instead of 1-0,” Manoah said. “I’ve still got to work on the 3-0 counts and 2-0 counts, but I’ll continue to tighten up that focus a little bit and save some of those pitches to be able to go longer into the game.”

Just like Guerrero and just like Springer, Manoah did his part. This Blue Jays season has been a long lesson, though, that a roster is often only as strong as its weakness. This lineup is good enough to slug its way to wins some nights, but the lack of consistency in the bullpen will always make it a nail-biter.