TORONTO -- Typically the strong, silent type, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. showed his frustration on Friday night at Rogers Centre against the Astros and was ejected for the first time in his Major League career.

Guerrero was tossed in the bottom of the seventh inning after he struck out swinging, but the story begins earlier in that at-bat, on a called strike two, and earlier in the game. The 20-year-old had already said something to home plate umpire Mike Estabrook and the Blue Jays’ bench disagreed with multiple calls throughout the game. So Guerrero’s final disagreement was the tipping point.

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“It was the heat of the moment,” Guerrero said through team translator Hector Lebron after the Blue Jays fell 7-4 to the Astros. “I was probably a little bit frustrated, but I didn’t say anything bad to him. I turned around and told him that it was a ball. Then I guess he didn’t understand what I said very well. He got upset and he threw me out.”

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said that the series of disagreements throughout the game had the umpires “on edge,” but he believes that Estabrook “did it the right way” by telling Guerrero to stop initially and not issuing an immediate ejection. It was Guerrero’s follow-up comments, not his initial ones, that triggered his early exit.

One ejection in a three-run loss doesn’t mean much for the Blue Jays in the short-term picture, but it offers a glimpse into the pressures and challenges that can come with the heightened emotions of late-season ball, especially if the Blue Jays are contending for the playoffs in the coming years.

Montoyo welcomes it, and with it he predicts that we’ll see more of the same.

“I’m going to get thrown out and other players are going to get thrown out,” Montoyo said. “The better we get and the more we get into fighting for the playoffs, I’m going to get thrown out more. There’s going to be more, because that’s just what it is. I’m looking forward to that, honestly.”

Guerrero brings personality and a youthful enthusiasm to the Blue Jays clubhouse, something that continues to show itself more and more on the field. But he’s typically been reserved in showing his frustrations until now. Those will come in waves, even for a player of Guerrero’s talent, but he has the early support of his manager in expressing that like he did on Friday, without making a larger scene or risking suspension.

“He’s a human being,” Montoyo said. “He wants to win and he’s playing to win. He felt like he had to say something and, honestly, I’m OK with that.”

The Blue Jays made some noise late with solo home runs from Reese McGuire, Derek Fisher and Cavan Biggio, but it wasn’t enough to make up for a quiet start to the game. Toronto’s real shot at breaking it open came in the second, when they forced Wade Miley to walk the bases loaded and throw 41 pitches, but they couldn’t capitalize with a big blow.

Starter Trent Thornton opened the game with four scoreless innings, building on the 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball he threw against the Astros in June, but George Springer got to him in the fifth with a three-run blast that carried 463 feet to left field. Thornton felt strong otherwise, but that fifth inning turned the game.

“It was just a matter of that inning. My stuff felt really good tonight,” Thornton said. “I thought I was locating a lot better than I have been lately. I left one pitch to Springer over the plate and he did damage. Other than that, I felt pretty in control.”