Jays’ bats back up strong Gausman start
TORONTO Santiago Espinal’s RBI single in the seventh inning brought home the winning run as the Toronto Blue Jays held off the Houston Astros 3-2 on Sunday.
Bo Bichette’s two-run homer in the sixth was the first hit of the game for Toronto (15-8).
Espinal and Bichette’s offence backed a stellar start by Kevin Gausman (2-1).
He struck out 10 and allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings before giving way to Tim Mayza. Jordan Romano pitched the ninth for his Major League-leading 11th save of the season.
Framber Valdez (1-2) allowed three runs on just two hits and two walks for Houston, striking out two over 6 1/3 innings. Phil Maton and Héctor Neris pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
Niko Goodrum and Aledmys Diaz drove in runs for Houston (11-11) with a double and a single, respectively.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Espinal came to the plate with one out and runners on first and second.
Espinal hit a single to deep left field with Alvarez coming up firing as Matt Chapman rounded third. The Blue Jays third baseman slid cleats-first into home, beating the throw for a 3-2 Toronto lead.
Romano induced a pop fly to shallow right field to start the ninth before Kyle Tucker doubled. The Blue Jays closer then got pinchhitter Alex Bregman to line out to a diving George Springer in right field.
The 31,802 in attendance at Rogers Centre were already on their feet as Romano struck out Goodrum to end the game.