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Recap: Blue Jays 2, Astros 1; Bautista Hits Number 300 as Dickey Dazzles

An effective R.A. Dickey and just enough home runs from the veteran bats led the Blue Jays to a 2-1 victory in Houston on Tuesday night.

The Blue Jays, having played back to back extra inning games, entered the second game in Houston a little beat up and a little short handed. Troy Tulowitzki remained on the bench with a bone chip in his hand, and R.A. Dickey started in front of what was essentially a three man bullpen, including the newly acquired and promoted Mike Bolsinger and Danny Barnes (who is not – despite my momentary confusion – Andy Burns, or, in fact related to Darwin Barney).

Jose Bautista opened the scoring in the top of the third with a bomb into the Crawford Boxes in left. The solo home run was the 300th of his career. The list of active players with 300+ home runs is now ten players long, and topped by Alex Rodriguez, of course.

Not to be outdone, Edwin Encarnacion destroyed an innocent baseball in the top of the fourth. The curveball that Lance McCullers hung ended up on the railroad tracks behind the left field stands. Statcast had the home run at 104 mph, 33 degrees and 405 feet. McCullers then left due to injury after inducing a ground ball fielder’s choice from Josh Donaldson for the second out of the fifth. The issue would be described as “elbow discomfort” by the Astros’ organization.

R.A. Dickey was in control of the knuckleball in Houston, logging seven innings, allowing only one run on six hits, with five strikeouts and no walks. He left with a one run lead, as the Blue Jays were unable to solve Joe Musgrove as he began his major league debut for the Astros. He set an Astros record by striking out eight batters in relief. Danny Barnes followed up with an excellent debut for Toronto, allowing one hit to Jose Altuve, but allowing no other baserunners. Finally, in the top of the ninth, the Jays put some pressure on Musgrove, putting runners on first and second. They were unable to score an insurance run when Josh Thole struck out on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.

Jason Grilli entered the game in the bottom ninth as Roberto Osuna was unavailable do to recent usage. He ably handled his three batters and the Jays finished the night on top.

Top Play of the Game by WPA

Jose Bautista’s home run all the way back in the second inning gave the Jays the 1-0 lead and raised the win expectancy 12.2 percentage points for Toronto.

Bottom Play of the Game by WPA

Colby Rasmus gets the nod for worst play of the game, though he is mostly a victim of circumstance. Grounding out to lead the top of the ninth in a one run game reduced the Astros’ odds of winning by 8.6 percentage points, but they weren’t in great shape at that point anyway.

McCullers Leaves with Elbow Issue

Lance McCullers left the game with elbow discomfort in his throwing arm, and will be evaluated tomorrow. His absence could change the playoff picture in the American League wild card race, as he’s been a stalwart in the Astros rotation this season and losing an arm at this point in the season is obviously less than ideal.

Bats Still Ineffective

The Jays kept swinging for the fences, but only had one runner on third base all night, unless you count the solo home runs. The hitters were not able to string hits together, and the strikeout totals have soared up to where they were in April… When will they get it under control?

Up Next

The Jays improve their record in one run games to 12-19, and move on to the next one. It’s another 8:10 eastern time start in Houston, where we will see if Marco Estrada’s back holds up, and if Colin McHugh is the cure for the anemic offense.

Lead Photo: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

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