Houston (AP) – Matt Chapman doubled the home of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with two outs in the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Friday night for their third straight win.
Chapman’s tiebreak in the left central gap of the field against the relevator Hector Neris (1-1) scored Guerrero from first base. Houston lost its third in a row.
“I wasn’t really trying to do too much, I just really wanted to extend the inning, put Vladi in the goal position and just keep inning,” Chapman said. “Upload the next person. Fortunately, I managed to find this gap, and Vladi was on his horse, so it was nice to run. ”
Astros put the runners in the corners with one out at the bottom of the ninth in a single by Juli Guriel and Aledmis Diaz by Jordan Romano.
After Jason Castro outscored, JJ Mathieu was sent to the plate for his debut in the major leagues, hitting Martin Maldonado. The meeting of the left against the right did not work out for Astros, when Romano inflated Matievich for his eighth save.
“First and third, but he doesn’t panic,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Romano. “He was throwing 97-98 (mph) today. It is extinguished. I have to keep talking about him, because it’s not easy to do what he does. But again, the pass and defense won this match. “
Tim Maiza (1-0) made eighth without a result.
Justin Verlander made his first start against the Blue Jays after not hitting them on September 1, 2019 in Toronto. On Friday night, he kept Toronto without a hit, while Raimel Tapia scored in the fourth inning.
Verlander made six innings and allowed three runs in four hits. He hit five and passed one.
“My things weren’t as sharp as I’d like, just a little loose,” Verlander said. “But you don’t have your best things every time.”
The Astros took a 3-0 lead in the third with a doubling of Maldonado, followed by a walk to Jeremy Pena and a single by Michael Brantley, Alex Bragman and Garyel.
“At the beginning of the match we didn’t have very good at-bats, but after the second round, the bats improved and they took him out before we did more damage,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
The Blue Jays tied at 3 in the heel back to back for the Homers of Santiago Espinal and Bradley Zimmer. The solo shots – both in the left field – appeared on consecutive pitches and marked the first Homers of the year for both Espinal and Zimmer.
Toronto scored its first run in the fourth after Tapia led the inning with a single goal and later scored on the ground.
Blue Jace starter Ross Stripling conceded five goals in four innings, conceding three runs and destroying two.
“I’m so happy, I’m smiling,” said Montoyo. “Not only because we win, but we play good defense and direct and that’s how you win. Of course, everyone is talking about our blows, but as you know, it’s hard to hit. But if we continue to do what we do, I feel good with this team. “
COACH ROOM
Blue Jays: OF George Springer was out of the squad after being hit in the right wrist on Thursday. Springer said before the game that he hopes to play on Saturday night. This is his first trip back to Houston, where he spent seven seasons before signing with Toronto in 2021.
Astros: Ryan Presley (knee) is on Friday, which Baker called a “positive sign” and said he would probably face strikers on Sunday and the team will make an assessment from there.
GOLDEN GLOVES EVERYWHERE
Astros 1B Gurriel received his Golden Glove Award for 2021 at a ceremony before the game. In addition, the Astros received the team’s golden glove as the best defensive team in the American League last season.
TABIT MALDONADO
Astros honored Maldonado with a video tribute before the match on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the cat’s debut in the big league.
CHERMAN OF WERLANDER
“The clash is never easy, but I am always ready for the task. I definitely didn’t see eight off-speed playgrounds ahead of my first bat. That repelled me. But that’s the thing with him, he’s unpredictable and he has a lot of really good games. “
NEXT
Blue Jays: Alec Manoah (2-0, 1.50) starts for Toronto on Saturday. He participated in the sixth inning in seven consecutive starts, giving up two or fewer series in the last six.
Astros: Jose Urquidi (1-1, 7.00) conceded six runs and eight strokes in four innings in a loss on April 17 to Seattle.
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