- Game #79 - Houston Astros (38-43) @ Toronto Blue Jays (39-40) - game recap

 

Kazuma Okamoto drove in 3 runs and scored a run in a 9-7 extra innngs loss to the Astros

After prevailing to open the week versus the Texas teams on the strength of some productive outs in the form of three sac flies, the Blue Jays were looking to extend the win streak to 3 games, notch their 11th series win of the season and get above .500 for the first time since April 4th, which came the day Alejandro Kirk went on the IL with a fractured thumb. It was a rare Tuesday matinee with a world cup game happening later on in the day. Shane Bieber came off the 60-day IL (and made the start with Brandon Valenzuela behind the plate). Righty Lazaro Estrada was optioned to AAA-ball and righty Hayden Juenger was DFA'd. Jesus Sanchez was in LF and Myles Straw was in RF. The newly acquired Luis Urias got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 3 games, notch their 11th series win of the season and get above .500 for the first time since April 4th? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Astros opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Isaac Paredes singled scoring Jose Altuve
• The Astros added a run in the top of the 4th as Yandy Diaz smacked a solo blast to left and into the Astros bullpen
• A batter later, Cam Smith hammered a solo bomb to dead center 
• A batter after that, Taylor Trammell whacked a solo blast to right
• Shane Bieber pitching line: 3.2IP 9H 4R (all earned) 0BB 2K 75 pitches (50 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom half of the inning as Luis Urias belted a 2-run jack to left; also scoring Daulton Varsho
• Peter Lambert pitching line: 4.2IP 6H 2R (both earned) 3BB 6K 92 pitches (52 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom of the 7th as Varsho hammered a 2-run bomb to the 2nd deck in right; also scoring Kazuma Okamoto
• The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 8th as Okamoto singled scoring George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• The Astros got one back in the top of the 9th on a catcher's interference call against Brandon Valenzuela that forced in Altuve
• A batter later, Yordan Alvarez scored on a sac fly by Smith
• The Astros took the lead in the top of the 11th as Joey Loperfido hammered a 3-run bomb to the second deck in right; also scoring Altuve and Alvarez
• The Blue Jays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as  Okamoto singled scoring Guerrero Jr.
• Final score: Astros 9 Blue Jays 7 (11 innings)

My Take:

• Shane Bieber battled through 3.2 innings, giving up 4 runs on 9 hits while walking none and striking out 4. There has to be concern about his fastball velocity being too close to that of his off-speed pitches. It's hard to get big league hitters out when they are seeing pitches roughly the same speed and not located well. Case in point, the back-to-back-to-back home runs he coughed up in the 4th inning. Clearly the Astros could see Bieber was not able to get his velo up and they weren't missing the mistakes. 
• he bullpen gave up 5 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 8 over the last 7.1 innings. Tyler Rogers blew his 3rd save of the season and Brayden Fisher took the loss after ex-Blue Jay Joey Loperfido annihilated a pitch into the second deck for 3 runs. Mason Fluharty was the only reliever to retire every batter he faced.
• Offensively, Kazuma Okamoto (3RBI, run scored), Luis Urias (2-run HR) and Daulton Varsho (2-run HR) led the way. George Springer and Vlad went a combined 2-11 with a walk and 3 runs scored.
• Every Blue Jays starter except Brandon Valenzuela had a hit
• The Astros were 2-2 on ABS challenges and the Blue Jays were 1-1 on ABS challenges
• The Blue Jays were 3-14 with runners in scoring position\
• Up next, the Blue Jays try to get back to .500 and notch their 11th series win of the season. Trey Yesaavage starts against Astros righty Mike Burrows

Game #79 Houston Astros (37-43) @ Toronto Blue Jays (39-39)

C'mon....you remember him...don't you?

Back at .500...now let's get over the hump and start curb stomping some of these teams!

Also of note is that this is Bieber's first start so hopefully he doesn't get any of that yucky 2026 mojo on him.

Hopefully IAO has noticed the odd start time but of course he has duties and responsibilities to attend to!!

Duty bound IAO...Yes!!! He's really a cat!!

Game #78 - Houston Astros (37-43) @ Toronto Blue Jays (39-39) - game recap

 

Kazuma Okamoto hit a solo HR in a 4-2 comeback win over the Astros 

After a rain-out yesterday, the Blue Jays returned home to start a 10-game, 3-team homestand as they welcomed the Astros to town. The Astros won the season series last year, outscoring the Blue Jays 21-14. The Blue Jays aquired Luis Urias from the Diamondbacks and Yohendrick Pinago was optioned to AAA-ball to make room on the roster. Dylan Cease got the start with Alejandro Kirk behind the plate. Jesus Sanchez was in LF. Ernie Clement got the start at 2B. Could the Blue Jays extend the win streak to 2 games? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Astros opened the scoring in the top of the 1st as Isaac Paredes singled scoring Jeremy Pena
• The Blue Jays tied it in the bottom of the 2nd as Kazuma Okamoto whacked a solo blast to left-center
• Hunter Brown pitching line: 3IP 4H 1R (earned) 2BB 4K 85 pitches (54 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 4th on a sac fly by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that scored Andres Gimenez
• The Astros tied it in the top of the 6th as Jose Altuve singled scoring Yordan Alvarez
• Dylan Cease pitching line: 5.2IP 3H 2R (both earned) 4BB 8K 110 pitches (67 for strikes)
• The Blue Jays took the lead in the bottom of the 7th on a sac fly by Myles Straw that scored Daulton Varsho
• The Blue Jays added a run in the bottom of the 8th on a sac fly by Alejandro Kirk that scored George Springer
• Louis Varland pitched a scoreless 9th for his 16th save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 4 Astros 2

My Take:

• Dylan Cease battled through 5.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits while walking 4 and striking out 8. For a bit there it looked like a taxed bullpen would need to record at least 12-15 outs, but Cease was able to make enough pitches to almost make 18 outs or 6 innings. You have to wonder if the extra day of rest may have impacted Cease. Pitchers are very much creatures of habit and throwing off the routine by adding an extra day of rest doesn't necessarily mean that Cy Young will be on the mound. Also, pitchers usually need to figure out which pitches are working on a given day.
• The bullpen threw 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 1. Tyler Rogers got into a rare jam by allowing 2 hits and walking a batter, but he was able to pitch his way out of the inning. Brayden Fisher, who retired every batter he faced, was credited with the win. Loois Varland should be on the all-star tea. He's been magnificent all season.
• Offensively, the Blue Jays got three productive outs with Vlad, Myles Straw and Alejandro Kirk all hitting sac flies. Kazuma Okamoto with his 17th HR of the season, more than double the total of George Springer, who has gone deep 7 times this season. What's it going to take to get Vlad going? It might be a good idea to let him hit lower in the lineup and maybe have a batting threat like Okamoto hit in front of him.
• The Blue Jays lost their ABS challenges. The Astros were an impressive 5-1 on ABS challenges. As I mentioned at the beginning of the season, in games where the home plate umpire of the day has a bad reputation for ball-strike accuracy, you will see more ABS challenges
• The Blue Jays were 1-9 with runners in scoring position. The team is definitely missing Don Mattingly
• Up next, a rare matiness with the World Cup game scheduled in Toronto. The Blue Jays will be looking to extend the win streak to 3 games and get above .500 for the first time since April 4th and to notch their 11th series win of the season. Shane Bieber makes his season debut against Atros righty Peter Lambert

Game #78 Houston Astros (37-42) @ Toronto Blue Jays (38-39)

 

Who am I?

Good thing about a dome is that there will be a game tonight.

On the plus side the rain out gives the bullpen some much needed rest.

Let's see if we can get back to .500 tonight.

And now onto more important matters....

As some may be aware, Dabbles has just recently purchased a BBQ.

There's been much curiosity as to whether or not he's assembled it as of yet.

LATE BREAKING BULLETIN!!

Our very own award winning JiTH news team has confirmed the assembly!

Below is actual footage of Dabs firing the BBQ up for the first time!

                                                            Hope you like your burger well done.

Game #77 - Toronto Blue Jays (38-39) @ Chicago Cubs (40-37) - game recap

 

Kazuma Okamoto hit a 3-run HR to lift the Blue Jays to an 8-6 comeback win over the Cubs

After a blowout loss thanks to a brutal day for the pitchers and only George Springer doing anything offensively, the Blue Jays were looking to even the series and avoid their 11th series loss and 8th season series loss of the season. Daulton Varsho was reinstated from the 10-day IL and Charles McAdoo was optioned to AAA-ball. Righty Lazaro Estrada was reinstated from the 60-day IL and lefty Brendon Little was optioned back to AAA-ball. Patrick Corbin got the start with Brandon Valenzuela behind the plate. Myles Straw was in LF, Varsho was in CF and Nathan Lukes was in RF. Could the Blue Jays even the series and avoid their 11th series loss and 8th season series loss of the season? Here is today's game recap.

Game Highlights:

• The Cubs opened the scoring in unge bottom of the 2nd as Matt Shaw whacked a 3-run blast to left; also scoring Alex Bregman and Ian Happ
• Patrick Corbin pitching line: 3.2IP 6H 3R (all earned) 3BB 4K 101 pitches (57 for strikes)
• Colin Rea pitching line: 5.1IP 3H 0R 0BB 3K 78 pitches (50 for strikes)
• The Cubs added a pair of runs in the bottom of the 6th as Pete Crow- Armstrong belted a 2-run jack to right; also scoring Dansby Swanson
• The Blue jays got 3 back in the top of the 7th as Daulton Varsho hammered a 3-run bomb to right; also scoring Vladimir Gurrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto
• The Blue jays got one back in the top of the 8th as Alejandro Kirk singled scoring Myles Straw 
• A batter later, Guerrero Jr. singled home Springer
• Two batters later, Okamoto smacked a 3-run blast to left; also scoring Guerrero Jr and Yohendrick Pinago 
• Louis Varland got the last 6 outs for his 15th save of the season
• Final score: Blue Jays 8 Cubs 6
• The Cubs got one back in the button half of the inning on a fielder's choice hit by Nico Hoerner that scored Miguel Amaya
• 
  

My Take:

• Patrick Corbin battled through 3.2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 4. Not a real efficient start for Corbin as he needed 101 pitches to get 11 outs. With Shane Bieber set to return to the rotation, it is likely his last start in a Blue Jays uniform. 
• The bullpen gave up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 4 and striking out 3 over the last 5.1 innings. Louis Varland did a great job in getting the last 6 outs and limiting the damage to one run when Mason Fluharty left him with a bases loaded nobody out mess in the 8th where the Cubs could have taken the lead right back with one swing.. His only blemish was an error on a rushed throw in the 9th.
• The offense came to life in a big way in the 7th and 8th inning, scoring 8 runs on 6 hits and a hit batter. Daulton Varsho got things started with a rocket to right for 3 runs and Japanese rookie Kazuma Okamoto also went deep for 3 runs to give the Blue Jays the lead. In between, Vlad and Alejandro Kirk had clutch RBI base hits.
• Every Blue Jays starter except Davis Schneider and Nathan Lukes had a  hit
• The Cubs were 5-1 on ABS challenges and Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya successfully overturned an impressive 4 ABS challenges. Brandon Valenzuela was unsuccessul on the Blue Jays only ABS challenge on the day.
• The Blue Jays were 4-7 with runners in scoring position
• Up next, weather permitting, the Blue Jays go for 2 straight wins and to notch their 11th series win and 4th season series win of the season. Dylan Cease starts against Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga