The Toronto Blue Jays continue a tough stretch of their schedule with a three-game series in Houston against the reigning World Series champion Astros.
Toronto is playing good baseball, having won four series in a row after dropping the season-opening series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Astros are off to a middling start, but just one team in their division (the AL West) currently has a winning record — the Texas Rangers (9-6).
Here’s a look at the Blue Jays-Astros series:
Monday, 8:10 p.m. ET / 5:10 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Kevin Gausman (1-1, 1.35 ERA) vs. Houston RHP Cristian Javier (1-0, 4.24 ERA)
Tuesday, 8:10 p.m. ET / 5:10 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Chris Bassitt (1-2, 7.63 ERA) vs. Houston RHP Jose Urquidy (1-0, 2.35 ERA)
Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. ET / 5:10 p.m. PT: Toronto RHP Jose Berrios (1-2, 7.98 ERA) vs. Houston RHP Luis Garcia (0-2, 7.71 ERA)
All games are on Sportsnet ONE and SN NOW.
The Blue Jays (10-6) prevented the Tampa Bay Rays from winning a modern-era record 14th game in a row to start the season on Friday night and then took another game from the visitors on Saturday to earn a series victory.
However, the Blue Jays missed a chance at their first sweep of the season with an 8-1 loss against the Rays on Sunday.
The biggest issue was the control of ace Alek Manoah. Unable to find the plate consistently and then catching too much of the plate at times when he hit the strike zone, Manoah was pulled in the fifth after giving up seven runs.
It’s been a rough start to the season for Manoah, who has just one quality start in four chances.
Despite the setback, there’s been a lot to like about the Jays so far. Matt Chapman is second in the majors in batting average (.421) and Bo Bichette is tied for the lead in hits (27).
It hasn’t been a great start for the Astros, who are 7-9 after dropping two of three against the state-rival Texas Rangers this weekend.
The visiting Rangers won 9-1 in the Sunday nighter, breaking open a scoreless tie with six runs in the seventh — including a grand slam by former Blue Jay Marcus Semien off reliever Hector Neris.
The good news for the Astros is they had the exact same record at this time last year — and we all know how that turned out.
Despite losing ace Justin Verlander in free agency to the New York Mets, the Astros have the sixth-best ERA in the majors.
The offence hasn’t been as good with the Astros sitting 19th in OPS.
Houston’s biggest off-season move was signing 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu, 36, to a three-year, $58.5-million deal.
The former Chicago White Sox first baseman started the season on a 10-game hit streak, but his season numbers are rather pedestrian (.239/.282/.269 with no homers and five RBI) so far.
The Astros are missing a big piece in eight-time all-star second baseman Jose Altuve, who is expected to miss the first two months of the season with a broken thumb.
All three Toronto starters in this series are coming off strong outings — with Berrios getting the much-needed win against Tampa on Friday after a rough beginning to the season and a disappointing 2021 campaign.
Gausman has been Toronto’s best starter. He gave up his first three earned runs of the season in his last start (he got a no-decision after pitching eight innings against the Detroit Tigers) and has struck out 25 while walking only three.
Toronto took four of six from the Astros with five games in April and one on May 1.
The Blue Jays wrap up a road trip with a three-game series against the New York Yankees, who are tied with Toronto for second in the AL East. They both four games back of the Rays.
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