The Houston Astros have spent the better part of a month putting a disastrous start behind them. Monday night at Rogers Centre, some of that start came back.
Hunter Brown was knocked out after three innings. Jeremy Peña left the game with a potential injury. Three double plays killed Houston rallies. The Astros dropped the series opener to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2, falling to 37-43.
The loss was tighter than it might have been — Toronto stranded 13 runners and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position — but Houston couldn’t capitalize either, finishing 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Ex-Astro Myles Straw delivered the decisive blow, a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning that broke a 2-2 tie. Alejandro Kirk added an insurance sacrifice fly in the eighth off Logan VanWey, who was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land earlier in the day.
Brown’s Short Night
Toronto is one of the most aggressive lineups in baseball, but the Blue Jays were patient against Brown, spoiling pitches and working deep into counts all night. Brown needed 85 pitches to work through three innings, with more than half the batters he faced reaching base. The only run he allowed was a solo home run by Kazuma Okamoto in the second inning. Brown hit two batters, walked two, and had a ground ball deflect off his left elbow. He struck out four but was pulled after three innings — a short night by any measure for a pitcher making his third start back from a shoulder injury.
AJ Blubaugh followed with two innings, allowing Toronto to take a 2-1 lead on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sacrifice fly in the fourth. Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan King each contributed before VanWey ran into trouble in the eighth.
Cease’s Fateful Sixth
Dylan Cease was sharp after a difficult first inning, setting down 14 consecutive batters at one point and finishing with eight strikeouts across 5⅓ innings. Isaac Paredes had given Houston a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single in the first, but Cease locked in quickly after that.
The pivotal moment came in the sixth. With Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker aboard via one-out walks, Cease got Paredes to fly out on his 106th pitch. Toronto manager John Schneider came to the mound with Jose Altuve on deck and, after a brief conversation, left Cease in the game. The crowd roared. On his 110th pitch — a 98.7 mph fastball — Altuve slapped a single to right field, scoring Alvarez to forge a 2-2 tie. Cease was done.
Peña Exits
Peña left the game in the sixth inning after fouling off a pitch and stepping out of the box favoring his right leg. A trainer and manager Joe Espada examined him before removing him from the game. Peña missed more than a month earlier this season with a right hamstring strain, returning May 18 and playing well since. After the game, he was interviewed and reported having a leg cramp and said he will see how it feels Tuesday.
Alvarez in Left
Alvarez made his second consecutive start in left field, the first time he has played back-to-back games in the outfield all season. He has spent the vast majority of his starts at designated hitter, and the Astros have been deliberate about limiting his outfield time to keep him healthy. Espada said Monday’s alignment was partly dictated by Brown’s ground-ball tendencies — with Alvarez in left, Paredes could shift to DH and Raynel Delgado, a left-handed hitter, could start at third against the right-handed Cease.
Alvarez entered the game leading all qualified major league hitters in OPS and pacing the American League in home runs.
Houston and Toronto play Tuesday at 3:07 p.m. CT, with Peter Lambert starting against Trey Yesavage.
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