Three Key Things: Astros stay hot, take three of four from reeling Blue Jays

The Astros are the cool kids in school, and the Blue Jays wish they could be as cool as them.

Once 12 games under .500 and last place in the AL West, the Astros have overcome their early season woes and have made up substantial ground. Now, Houston is 45-42, two games back of the AL West lead, and winners of 12 of their last 14 games. Mind you, they’re doing this with an entire pitching rotation on the Injured List, and they were getting so little production out of Jose Abreu that they flat-out released him.

Houston’s on a roll, and they took care of business north of the border by winning three of four from the Blue Jays and outscoring 24-13 in the process. Here are my Three Key Things as to how it went down.

Yordan Álvarez is one of the best players in all of baseball, but when it comes to the Blue Jays, he’s nearing Ryan Mountcastle territory. Álvarez posted an impressive stat line during this week’s tilt, going 6-for-12 with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs, and four walks. That would do well for someone’s fantasy team.

Yariel Rodríguez did a fabulous job limiting Álvarez’s impact at the plate on Monday by retiring him with a pair of groundouts, however, he did walk him in the seventh inning. Despite this, he hit a two-run home run in the 9th inning off of Zach Pop that turned out to be necessary insurance runs to ensure Houston’s victory.

On Tuesday night, Álvarez crushed a three-run home run that cut Toronto’s lead to only two. The Blue Jays had jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the 4th inning, but Álvarez’s homer capped off a five-run 5th inning to eat into Toronto’s lead. This at-bat in particular drew some criticism as to how it was handled. There were two outs in the inning, there was a base open, and Yainer Díaz – already 0-for-2 on the night to that point – was on deck. Furthermore, José Berríos had already gotten behind 3-0 in the count. Either he was going to waste a pitch to put him on base or he was going to put something in the zone to earn a strike. He opted for the latter, and Álvarez smoked an 83 mph changeup into the right field seats.

Álvarez was at it again on Wednesday night, this time doing a number on Yusei Kikuchi’s fastball. Kikuchi threw him five fastballs one the night, and Álvarez swung at four of them. One foul tip, one groundout, an RBI double, and a loud solo home run is what Álvarez did to them, with both run-scoring hits either tying the game or putting Houston ahead.

Finally, Chris Bassitt (whom Álvarez has really good career numbers against) was dealt a tough hand of cards when facing him on Thursday. Bassitt walked Álvarez to load the bases on two different occasions, but he did record a flyout against him. It’s been one of the more tame appearances for Bassitt against Álvarez; if you remember, Bassitt was caught cordially telling Álvarez “You’re f***ing killing me man” as the two were walking off the field in an April meeting between the two teams.

No one really knows for sure what Toronto’s roster will look like in 2025, let alone the end of this year. However, one can safely assume Spencer Horwitz will be a part of Toronto’s future plans. Horwitz had hits in three of the four games, going 5-for-16 with a double, a home run, and an RBI. Unfortunately, Wednesday’s game marked the first time that Horwitz failed to reach base in a game that he started this season.

When the first lineup card was announced for Thursday’s game, Horwitz was left off due to a lefty in Framber Valdez being on the mound for Houston. However, an injury to Bo Bichette opened the door for Horwitz to make the revised lineup, and he took full advantage of the opportunity. All three of Horwitz’s hits were against lefties, including a single to left field in the 9th inning against Astros closer Josh Hader. Horwitz worked a full count including two swinging strikes, but he adapted and poked a 97 mph sinker into left.

In 23 games this season, Horwitz is slashing .314/.435/.486 with a .921 OPS, four homers, nine RBIs, and three doubles. In addition to those numbers, he hasn’t made a single error at second base this season in 16 games.

The Blue Jays currently rank around the middle of the pack when it comes to hitting with runners in scoring position. That’s much better than how they started the season, but looking at this series specifically, there were multiple opportunities for Toronto to put themselves in a position to win.

Let’s start with Monday’s game in which Toronto went 0-for-6 with RISP, stranding the bases loaded twice. Houston starter Hunter Brown was really good on Monday, but the Blue Jays had him on the ropes in the 2nd inning when three of the first four batters of the frame reached base. George Springer laced a single into centre field, and Daulton Varsho and Davis Schneider each worked a walk. Not only would cashing in a couple of runs here start Canada Day off on a good note, but it would’ve also benefited Rodríguez, who was tossing his best game as a Blue Jay. Unfortunately, Ernie Clement would pop out to first, and Kevin Kiermaier struck out swinging to end the threat.

The Blue Jays struck again in the bottom of the 8th inning, loading the bases with only one out thanks to an Addison Barger walk, a Horwitz double, and a Justin Turner HBP. Springer and Varsho were both unable to cash in any runs despite making solid contact on their balls in play; Springer lined a ball right to Alex Bregman at third, and Varsho grounded a ball out 101 mph off the bat.

Toronto shot themselves in the foot during Thursday’s game, hitting into five double plays throughout the day. They rallied to tie the game at 3 in the first inning and still had runners at second and third with just one out, but Clement – similar to Springer’s out on Thursday – lined a ball right to Bregman at third base. Horwitz was playing off the bag, and he was tagged out to end the inning. The double plays certainly offset the fact that Toronto actually out-hit Houston in this game 10-9. The missed opportunities left a lot of “what ifs.”