TORONTO — Jose Berrios pitched well and the Blue Jays̵7; three-run fifth inning helped Toronto beat the Houston Astros 3-2 on Thursday night.
Brandon Belt drove in Matt Chapman with a single to go off the go-ahead against Houston starter Framber Valdez (6-5). The Blue Jays extended their winning streak to three games and won nine of their last 11.
Berrios (6-4) allowed two earned runs and four hits in six innings. He had two strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Yimi Garcia, Eric Swanson and Jordan Romano each worked a scoreless frame. Romano, of Markham, Ontario, threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his 17th save.
Astros cleanup hitter Alex Bregman opened the scoring in the second inning with a solo shot, his ninth home run of the season. Berrios gave up a walk and two singles to load the bases but kept the damage to a minimum with a run-scoring double-play and groundout.
Toronto’s center-fielder Kevin Kiermaier was hit by a pitch in the bottom half of the frame. He was ejected from the game in the fourth inning and replaced by Dalton Vershow.
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The Blue Jays said that precautionary X-rays were negative and that Kiermaier had a left wrist injury. Astros slugger Jordan Alvarez (right oblique discomfort) also left the game early.
Valdez issued three walks in the fifth inning and it proved costly. Chapman grounded out in a force out with the bases loaded to bring Varsho home.
Alejandro Kirk scored with a ground-rule double off Bo Bichette. Belt’s RBI single broke the tie before Kirk was thrown out at the plate.
Valdez allowed three earned runs and four hits over five innings. He had five strikeouts but walked four batters.
Houston reliever Phil Maton put two runners in scoring position in the sixth inning thanks to a slick defensive play by Bregman. The third baseman caught Bickett’s slow roller by the arm and put it out for the one-run save.
Garcia gave up back-to-back singles to open the seventh but Houston could not take advantage. Kirk helped stop the momentum by catching Jose Abreu, leaning far from the bag at second base.
The Blue Jays catcher fielded the throw to first before firing to second baseman Santiago Espinal, who threw Chapman to third for the tag. Garcia struck out to Martin Maldonado to preserve the one-run lead.
The announced attendance was 28,284 and the game took two hours and 34 minutes to play.
roof off
The retractable roof of the Rogers Center was closed again due to smoke from wildfires burning in parts of Ontario and Quebec.
is coming
The Blue Jays will continue their seven-game homestand on Friday with a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins.
Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (6-2, 4.40 earned-run average) was to start against right-hander Sonny Gray (4-1, 2.15). The Astros will head to Cleveland for a weekend series against the Guardians.
manoh spot
The rotation spot left vacant by the demotion of Toronto right-hander Alec Manoah has yet to be filled.
The Twins plan to start right-hander Joe Ryan (7-3, 2.76) on Saturday but the Blue Jays say their starter is ‘to be announced.’
Manoh was a Cy Young finalist last year but has only one win this season. He was sent to the minors on Tuesday after pitching a third of an inning in the first game of the four-game series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 8, 2023.
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