That was unexpectedly fun, given the pitching matchup. The suddenly lukewarm Jays are 3.0 out of the third wildcard and a mere seven games below .500.
It took a while to figure Hunter Brown out. A Jesus Sanchez walk and a reached on error by Kazuma Okamoto that was promptly erased by a double play were all they managed through five innings.
Meanwhile, the Astros were onto Jameson Taillon early. Two walks and a hit loaded the bases with one out in the first. He escaped that jam, but a Jose Altuve home
run in the third, followed by a pair of singles and a double, put the Astros up three. Taillon rallied to record a clean fourth, but the Jays found themselves in a hole they didn’t appear likely to climb out of.
Then, in the sixth, Myles straw broke up the no hitter with a double to left. Okamoto brought him home with a single to put Toronto on the board, and Jesus Sanche homered to tie the game at three.
Things settled there for the rest of the regulation innings. Spencer Miles had taken over and handled the fifth cleanly. He got into trouble in the sixth, giving up a leadoff single and a double, but good fielding by Nathan Lukes prevented the lead runner from scoring, and he buckled down to escape the inning with the tie still in place.
Steven Okert and Mason Fluharty exchanged hitless sevemty innings. Bryan Abreu did the same in the top of eight, while Tyler Rogers worked around a single with the help of a caught stealing by Brandon Valenzuela. Closers Josh Hader and Louis Varland each handled the ninth without trouble.
Finally, in the tenth, Ernie Clement lead off with a home run. Woth the Mandred Man on, that staked the Jays to a 5-4 lead. With the Jays leverage relievers either burnt or now playing for the Twins, Chase Lee got the call to lock it down. He got some help when Yordan Alvarez, leading off, was gunned down trying to stretch a single by Nathan Lukes. It scored the automatic runner, but gave Lee clean bases to work with. He got a pair of fly outs to end the game.
Jays of the Day: Clement (0.26), Sanchez (0.24), Lee (0.20), Varland (0.14), Rogers (0.11), Miles (0.10), and we’ll round up on Fluharty (0.09)
Less So: Taillon (-0.14), Springer (-0.11), and we’ll excuse Lukes (-0.10) for his fielding additions.
It’s off toWrigley Field tomorrow to make up a game that was rained out back in June. Dylan Cease (7-5, 2.41) will face David Peterson (6-7, 5.52). It’s a day game, as the Jays will have to hop back on the plane to get to Philly for their weekend series. First pitch is 2:10pm ET.
