The Blue Jays got bad news before the game聽but came back from the brink and pulled out a 4-3 win over the Houston Astros in 10 innings at the Rogers Centre on Tuesday.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Jays got up off the mat against Houston closer Bryan Abreu, who is subbing for the injured Josh Hader.
A leadoff walk to Alejandro Kirk was followed by a one-out single by Ernie Clement and a walk to Davis Schneider to load the bases. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then hit a line single to left-centre, scoring two and tying the game.
“Walking up to the plate, I just kind of had a feeling where everything that happened last year, everything that happened this year is all meant to be,” said Kiner-Falefa, after finishing his first game at home since the Jays reacquired him a week and a half ago. “For me to come through in that spot was just surreal. I kind of visualized walking up to the plate, like ‘I went to Pittsburgh for this hit right here.’”
Jeff Hoffman shut out Houston in the top of the 10th, aided immensely by a heads-up play by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., throwing out Jose Altuve trying to go to third on a leadoff ground ball.
“Glad there weren’t any hot mics in the dugout,” Jays manager John Schneider said after the game. “It was the ‘no, no, no聽鈥 nice.’ ”
In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Heineman’s ground ball to the right side scored Myles Straw with the winning run. The backup catcher’s first career walk-off hit sealed the Jays’ 43rd come-from-behind win this season.
“Anybody can do it at any point in time,” said starter Shane Bieber, who allowed three runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings. “I think we showed聽鈥 how much depth we have and how many guys can make an impact, not just with the big plays, but playing Blue Jays baseball.
“Everybody chipped in tonight, it was a big team victory.”聽
Without shortstop Bo Bichette, placed on the 10-day injured list before the game with a left knee sprain, the Jays went hitless through the first five innings before George Springer聽hit his club-leading 28th home run of the season to lead off the sixth.
That home run came against Houston’s third pitcher of the night, Enyel de los Santos, who followed rookie AJ Blubaugh’s 3 1/3 hitless innings.
Blubaugh, making just his seventh major-league appearance, had taken over for starter Luis Garcia, who left with the trainer after missing with a 1-and-1 pitch to Clement in the second inning.
Garcia was making his second start after missing 28 months recovering from Tommy John surgery, and after striking out Kirk with a 91.2-m.p.h. fastball, he hit Addison Barger with a first-pitch curve. He then threw two fastballs to Clement, neither breaking 88 miles per hour, before leaving with what the Astros announced as “right elbow discomfort.”
Bieber wasn’t nearly as sharp as he had been in his first three outings.
Jeremy Pena led off the game with a loud double off the wall in left-centre and, two batters later, Carlos Correa homered off the batters’ eye to give the visitors a quick two-run lead that they carried until the sixth inning when Yainer Diaz sent Bieber to the showers with a two-out RBI double to left field.
Diaz had hit a drive in his previous at-bat that Daulton Varsho picked off the wall in right-centre with a leaping grab. The gold-glover made another outstanding catch in the eighth, stealing extra bases from Jake Meyers with a jump at the wall.
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