Astros fell to the Blue Jays 4-2 Monday night in Toronto. Myles Straw drove in the go-ahead run on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Kazuma Okamoto added a homer for Toronto. A tough start to the road trip after a really solid stretch at home.
After three back to back series wins this is not the start to the series they need, but they have proven over and over they can bounce back and still take the series.
Jeremy Peña singled on the first pitch of the game and scored on a one-out single by Isaac Paredes to put the Astros up 1-0 right away. Dylan Cease then loaded the bases later in the inning but got a double play grounder from Yainer Diaz to limit the damage.
Hunter Brown made his second start back from the IL and lasted three innings, giving up four hits, one run, and two walks while striking out four. He took a line drive off his lower back at one point and was checked out by trainers, but remained in the game.
Peña left the game in the sixth after aggravating a previous hamstring injury on a swing, something worth keeping an eye on going forward. Losing Peña again would be a big blow to this team that has been slowly turning this season around as their key players all started to return.
Toronto chipped away from there. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tied it with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Okamoto's homer and Straw's sacrifice fly in the seventh put the Blue Jays ahead for good, and Alejandro Kirk added another sacrifice fly in the eighth to make it 4-2. Three different sacrifice flies were the difference in the game for Toronto.
The Astros had chances late but could not come through. Brice Matthews and Yordan Alvarez singled in the eighth, but Christian Walker grounded into a double play right after. Yainer Diaz drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, but Joey Loperfido grounded into a double play just two pitches later. Louis Varland struck out Taylor Trammell to close it out and secure his 16th save. They just couldn't quite get the ball rolling Monday night.
The Astros have been one of the best road teams in baseball this season, leading the AL in road batting average. Toronto got back to .500 for the first time since May 29 with the win. Peter Lambert faces Shane Bieber, who is making his first start of the season, in game two tomorrow.
A frustrating way to open the series after playing some of their best baseball of the season recently. The Astros need to bounce back quickly to avoid dropping another series.
