For a guy who shakes baseball with his glove like a baby before it expires, Astros’ key player, Luis Garcia, was not very protective of them against George Springer. At the bottom of the first, Garcia shook his baby, took a step forward, stepped back and threw the ball to the head of Blue Jay, who left it on the Toronto bolt. Then, after another Garcia dance in front of the court, Springer scored another solo shot in the third to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead. Blue Jays key player José Berríos got off to a good start, sending the Astros to seven pitches (the same number of pitches Springer saw as his captain), thanks in part to a diving catch by center-back Bradley Zimmer in Chas McCormick line driving. The top of the third started well, with Berríos beating Jason Castro. Matt Chapman then showed the crowd in his hometown why they had him, bringing a sledgehammer to Jose Siri and throwing it in the diamond to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who picked it up to get out. This time last year, we would all be holding our collective breaths, wondering if Cavan Biggio’s throw would reach the first. Then McCormick lined up in the center again and Zimmer almost took him out again: the ball went into Zimmer’s glove but popped out as it hit the outside turf, giving McCormick a double. Niko Goodrum walked on, but no harm was done, as Alex Bregman darted into the penalty area to finish the inning – thank you, MLB, for killing the ball. The next event, Houston made its first run on a huge Jordan Alvarez, who flew 447 feet into the flight deck at the dead center. The next two Astros entered the base, but a strange decision to put Jeremy Peña to try to advance the runners helped Berríos get out of the inning without further damage. In the bottom half of the inning, the Blue Jays put two without outs, but Toronto also failed to beat either of them. Without sounding like a broken record, the Astros put two again in the fifth, but no one managed to score. Springer was deprived of the opportunity to score his third home goal in the bottom of the fifth, when a quick ball from Garcia fell on his elbow. Springer quickly passed the second base, but was forced to stay there when Bo Bichette just stepped under a pitch and flew out into the center. Vladdy completed the inning by knocking out on a guest striker who, to be fair, appeared in the strike zone. But he was clearly upset by some of the strike calls he received in the first inning, hitting his bat on the way back to the dugout. Charlie Montoy ran out to talk to referee Nick Lenz, sacrificing himself to keep Vlady in the game. Astros threatened again in the sixth inning when Peña reached the ball that went under Bichette’s glove for an E6. Siri then bounced to the right to hit Berríos, with incumbent John Schneider deciding to release Berríos from having to face McCormick for the fourth time. Berríos finished his day throwing 5.2 innings giving just one run on seven hits, scoring five and walking two. Adam Sieber made Snyder look smart by taking McCormick into a lazy that was not dramatized. Cimber was followed by Tim Mayza who held the Jays lead, creating Jordan Romano’s 12th (!) Exit in the ninth to maintain a 2-1 lead. Romano’s mission was to face the top of the Houston squad and what did he do? He threw McCormick on three pitches, hit Goodrum on three more, and Bregman retired with three more. Once again, Toronto overcomes with another win in a row and Romano takes his 10th save, tying him with Josh Hunter for the championship lead. 2022 #BlueJay summary: WWLWLWLWLWLWWWWWWLW LWLW – The_Road_Guy, but with the PASSION (@Road_Guy_Colin) 30 April 2022 Despite being 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position today, the 2022 Blue Jays are now 14-8 in the season and have played 22 games without losing two in a row. This is the longest unbeaten streak to start a season since 2009, when the team’s first consecutive defeat came in game 24. Jays of the Day! Springer (+.222 WPA), Berríos (+.179), Cimber (+.156), Mayza (+.141), Romano (+.161). Suckage Jays: Guerrero Jr. (−.105). The Blue Jays conclude their season series against Astros tomorrow, with the first pitch flying at 1:37 p.m. Toronto will send the right Kevin Gausman and Houston will face southpaw Framber Valdez.
