Over their eight innings at the plate, the Blue Jays’ offence recorded 11 hits and worked five walks to go along with two hit-by-pitches, but relied on three sacrifice flies to ensure they would get back to the .500 mark at 39-39.
After the Astros opened the game’s scoring in the first inning, Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto launched a solo shot off Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown in the second inning to even the game at 1-1.
Okamoto now leads all MLB third basemen in home runs with 17 and has become the only real consistent power threat in the Blue Jays’ lineup through the club’s opening 78 games. For the season, Okamoto is batting .234 to go along with his 17 home runs and a team-leading 46 RBIs, giving the Blue Jays much of what they hoped for when they signed the 29-year-old to a four-year, $60 million contract in January.
Okamoto with a solo home run to tie the game in the 2nd!
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After knocking Brown out after three innings and 85 pitches, the Blue Jays opened the fourth inning by going single, walk, and then a sacrifice bunt, which Astros third baseman Raynel Delgado was charged with an error on. Then, up stepped Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who launched a 3-2 cutter from A.J. Blubaugh to left field to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the night.
The Astros knotted the game at 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, but an inning later the Blue Jays found life with another sac fly. Daulton Varsho and Okamoto had back-to-back hits with one out in the seventh, which brought Myles Straw to the plate as a pinch-hitter after the Astros summoned left-hander Bryan King to face the originally scheduled Jesús Sánchez. Straw, like Guerrero, lifted a flyball to left field to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 advantage.
After Tyler Rogers escaped a threat in the top of the eighth inning, the Blue Jays pushed across a much-needed insurance run in the bottom half of the frame. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on singles by George Springer, Nathan Lukes, and Guerrero, which set up Alejandro Kirk with the bases loaded and nobody out. With the count 0-2, Kirk lifted a fly ball to left that brought home Springer to extend the lead to 4-2 and put a bow on the start of a 10-game home stand.
Following Cease, the Blue Jays turned to Braydon Fisher (3-2), Rogers, and Louis Varland, who went on to record his 16th save of the season and lower his ERA to 0.84 with another strong showing out of the bullpen.
The Blue Jays will turn to Shane Bieber for his season debut on Tuesday, while the Astros will counter with right-hander Peter Lambert. First pitch is 4:07 p.m. EST at Rogers Center.