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Analysis | Blue Jays so close and so far away in loss to Astros


Here’s what you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 8-1 loss to the Astros in Houston on Wednesday:

Oh so close

After being thoroughly dominated by Astros starter Luis Garcia for seven innings, the Jays had a shot to take the lead once the right-hander was done for the night.

They were only down a pair of runs because José Berríos was brilliant for a second straight game, allowing just a two-run double by Jake Meyers in the second over his seven innings of three-hit ball.

Rafael Montero took over for Garcia in the eighth and the Jays went single-double-walk-walk to cut the lead to 2-1. And they had the bases loaded with nobody out and the top of the order coming up.

Fireballer Bryan Abreu came in and George Springer ripped a 102.4-miles-per-hour line drive that was snared by Alex Bregman at third. Bo Bichette struck out and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. engaged in a tough eight-pitch battle before flying out to centre.

In the bottom of the inning, Jays’ momentum evaporated when the Astros scored six two-out runs, capped by a Jeremy Pena’s three-run homer off Adam Cimber.

Tick tock

Three Jays’ hitters were charged with pitch timer violations Wednesday, including a historic first.

In the bottom of the first inning, Guerrero was not alert to the pitcher with eight seconds left on the clock and was charged with a strike. But the count was 1-and-2, so Guerrero was dinged with strike three.

It was the first time a Blue Jay struck out … not looking.

Whit Merrifield wasn’t set up in time in the fifth inning and put himself in an 0-2 hole. He eventually singled on a little blooper to right field. Bichette wasn’t ready for his first pitch in the eighth inning. He fouled off the next three pitches before striking out.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness

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