TORONTO – It may be only the second month of the season, but Kevin Gaussman felt as if he had to perform in the playoffs on Sunday.
Gaussman hit 10 and conceded two runs in seven innings while the Toronto Blue Jays held the Houston Astros 3-2 at Rogers Center. The win set Toronto a 4-2 record in the regular season over Houston, the defending American league champion.
“I almost felt like a game after the season,” said Gaussman, who noted that Astros’ roster was largely unchanged from last year’s World Series. “The amount of adrenaline you have in every move you know, you have to be really good.”
Gaussman did more than well this year.
Sunday’s victory made Gaussman the only pitcher after Cy Young (1906) to start the season with five consecutive starts and a minimum of 20 innings without allowing for a walk or home run. No other pitcher has achieved the feat since the beginning of the World Series in 1903.
“It’s not like I’m trying not to walk, guys, I’m just throwing racetracks,” Gaussman said (2-1). “It’s obviously cool. But I have another start in five days, you know?
“This match was not the last match of the season.
Bo Bische’s home run with two runs in the sixth was the first blow of the game for Toronto (15-8), shattering the offer without a goal for Astros starter Frambert Valdes. Gaussman said his teammates were trying to torture Valdes in the dugout, but Bischet insisted he was focused on scoring a 1-0 defeat to the Blue Jays.
“I’m just interested in winning or losing, so for me it had nothing to do with breaking the no-no,” Bischet said. “I’m just going out there trying to have a good bat to win the game for my team.”
Toronto won six sets and tied another to start the 2022 season. The Blue Jays won two sets against Houston and Boston, took sets from Texas and Oakland, and split one in New York against the Yankees.
“Not only that, but we play with the best teams in baseball and we won them,” said Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo. “It’s a great credit for our guidance, the great work of our defense and, of course, our timely strike.”
Santiago Espinal’s RBI single in the seventh brought the winning streak to Toronto. Tim Maisa made a zero eighth for the Blue Jays before Jordan Romano won his 11th Premier League save of the season.
Valdes (1-2) conceded three runs with just two hits and two walks to Houston, scoring two over 6 1/3 innings. Phil Maton and Hector Neris did two innings of relief.
Nico Goodrum and Aledmis Diaz raced for Houston (11-11) in doubles and singles respectively.
Drawing 2-2 at the end of the seventh, Espinal came out on the plate with one out and runners on first and second.
Espinal hit a single to deep left field with Alvarez shooting, while Matt Chapman rounded out third. Blue Jace’s third base slipped with battles first at home, beating Toronto’s 3-2 lead.
Romano challenged a pop flash to the right to start the ninth before Kyle Tucker doubled. The Blue Jays came closer and then pinched the striker Alex Bregman to equalize against the jumper George Springer in the right field.
The 31 802 players at Rogers Center were on their feet when Romano hit Goodrum to end the game.
ON THE DEBT – Ross Stripling (0-0) will take the race for the Blue Jays on Monday, while Toronto hosts the New York Yankees in a critical game of the American League East. Jordan Montgomery (0-1) will get the start for the Yankees. New York tops the AL East rankings in a month, and Toronto is second.
RETURN – Blue Jace have not lost consecutive matches since September 24. Their current period of 30 games without consecutive losses is the longest active series in Major League Baseball. The longest such series in Toronto’s history is 45 games, running from August 30, 1992 to April 20, 1993.
OPTIONS – After the match, Blue Jays chose inside player Gosuke Kato and right pitcher Bowden Francis to triple Buffalo. The Bison have a Monday off, but the moves could be a place on Toronto’s list if left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu (forearm), outfielder Theoscar Hernandez (slanted) or hunter Danny Jansen (slanted) are ready to get out of injury.
This Canadian Press report was first published on May 1, 2022.
Add Comment