Jays 1 Astros 3
The good news? We had more than two hits, so that’s progress. And we had the tying run on second in the ninth.
Bowden Francis gave up three runs in the second inning (including a leadoff Christian Walker home run). Other than that? He gave up a bunch of hits but kept the Astros off the board after that. He went 4.2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 3 earned, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.
Chad Green finished the fifth and pitched the sixth, giving up two hits but no runs.
Yimi Garcia got out of the seventh without a run scoring, despite a pair of singles to start the inning.
Jeff Hoffman gave up a leadoff single in the eighth, but put up another zero. It is always a sign things are not going well when you put your closer and setup man into a game so they can ‘get some work’.
We got a run in the fourth. Vlad led off with a single, and he scored on Springer’s double.
We wouldn’t get another hit until two out in the eighth when Bo had a line single. Unfortunately, Vlad chased high and outside and tapped out to short (a terrible pitch to try to pull.
The ninth looked hopeful. After the obligatory Santander strikeout, Springer walked and Clement double, to give us the tying run on second. It looked, to me, that Kirk was hit on the foot with a pitch, but the umpires disagreed. a rather long review, they decided against. He struck out on a pitch below the zone. And Myles Straw hit a soft fly to center.
We had five hits on the night, better than the last two combined. So….progress, Bo, Vlad, George, Andres and Ernie each had a hit.
Jays of the Day: Clement (.148, for his pinch hit), and Springer (.098).
Other Award: Kirk (-.204, if that had been a hit batter, he likely wouldn’t have the number), Straw (-.125) and Francis (-.137). I figure Vlad deserves an dishonourable mention for the ground out on the pitch high and outside.
As I’ve said, the three or four times I’ve been there, “Let’s get the hell out of Texas”.
No game tomorrow, thank goodness. Friday, we start a weekend series with the Yankees.