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.
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