<p>Despite <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com">Blue Jays</a> fans witnessing another comeback tonight, the ending of this game didn&#8217;t end as well as last night&#8217;s did.</p>
<p>Astros catcher Yainer Diaz broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the 9th inning against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman with a solo home run, and Houston tied the series at one game apiece on Wednesday night. It&#8217;s the 15th home run that Hoffman has given up on the season, the most among Blue Jays relievers and tied for first with Jackson Rutledge of the Nationals among all MLB relievers.</p>
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<p>Diaz&#8217;s home run wiped away the momentum that the Blue Jays had accrued in the previous half inning. Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the 8th inning, the Blue Jays strung together a slew of singles from Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Ty France, Andrés Giménez, and Nathan Lukes, tying the game at two. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a chance to put the Blue Jays ahead with runners on the corners and two outs, but he grounded out to short to end the inning.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">IT&#39;S THAT TIME 🗣️ <a href="https://t.co/PDoqQo2MFW">pic.twitter.com/PDoqQo2MFW</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1965951736117420071?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>For the second straight night, Astros pitching held Toronto&#8217;s offense to little or no production through the first several innings. Tonight, it was due to the solid work from Astros starter Jason Alexander, who was claimed off waivers by Houston after he was designated for assignment by the A&#8217;s back in May.</p>
<p>The 32-year-old righty logged seven innings of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. He posted four three-up-three-down innings, and he had six frames in which he faced the minimum with the help of a double play and a &#8220;strike &#8217;em out throw &#8217;em out&#8221;.  Tonight&#8217;s outing marked the third time since he joined the Astros that Alexander pitched at least six scoreless innings and allowed zero runs.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blue Jays are 9-for-67 (.143 AVG) in innings 1-5 over the past 5 games</p>
<p>&mdash; Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNstats/status/1965934227909967914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Alexander&#8217;s production on the mound gave tonight&#8217;s start from <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/3-key-pitchers-turn-things-around-september-playoff-push">José Berríos</a> a heavier dose of importance. Looking to rewrite the narrative from his recent starts, Berríos gave the Blue Jays a solid start, allowing just two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings with five hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. His most <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=9/10/2025&amp;gamePk=776385&amp;chartType=pitch&amp;legendType=pitchName&amp;playerType=pitcher&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;pitchHand=&amp;batSide=&amp;descFilter=&amp;ptFilter=&amp;resultFilter=&amp;hf=playerBreakdown&amp;sportId=1&amp;liveAb=#776385">effective</a> pitch of the night was his sinker, reaching as high as 95 mph and generating 13 called strikes/whiffs.</p>
<p>One of the more encouraging bits from tonight&#8217;s start was the ground ball to fly ball ratio that Berríos posted. He surrendered nine ground ball outs versus just two fly ball outs, including an inning-ending double play hit by Carlos Correa in the top of the third inning. Unfortunately, Correa was able to get ahold of a Berríos changeup in the top of the sixth inning, hitting his 13th home run of the year, giving the Astros a 2-0 lead, and ending Berríos&#8217;s night.</p>
<p>Following Berríos were some exceptional outings from some of Toronto&#8217;s bullpen arms, particularly Braydon Fisher, who struck out a pair of batters and continued to impress with his devastating pitch mix. Louis Varland pitched only his third scoreless outing since August 12th, and Brendon Little was able to escape a jam in the top of the 8th.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays will look to win the series tomorrow with Kevin Gausman on the hill against Cristian Javier, who is making just his sixth start of the season since recovering from Tommy John surgery.</p>
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Despite <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com">Blue Jays</a> fans witnessing another comeback tonight, the ending of this game didn't end as well as last night's did.

Astros catcher Yainer Diaz broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the 9th inning against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman with a solo home run, and Houston tied the series at one game apiece on Wednesday night. It's the 15th home run that Hoffman has given up on the season, the most among Blue Jays relievers and tied for first with Jackson Rutledge of the Nationals among all MLB relievers.
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Diaz's home run wiped away the momentum that the Blue Jays had accrued in the previous half inning. Trailing 2-0 entering the bottom of the 8th inning, the Blue Jays strung together a slew of singles from Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Ty France, Andrés Giménez, and Nathan Lukes, tying the game at two. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a chance to put the Blue Jays ahead with runners on the corners and two outs, but he grounded out to short to end the inning.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1965951736117420071

For the second straight night, Astros pitching held Toronto's offense to little or no production through the first several innings. Tonight, it was due to the solid work from Astros starter Jason Alexander, who was claimed off waivers by Houston after he was designated for assignment by the A's back in May.

The 32-year-old righty logged seven innings of scoreless ball, allowing just three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. He posted four three-up-three-down innings, and he had six frames in which he faced the minimum with the help of a double play and a "strike 'em out throw 'em out".  Tonight's outing marked the third time since he joined the Astros that Alexander pitched at least six scoreless innings and allowed zero runs.

https://twitter.com/SNstats/status/1965934227909967914

Alexander's production on the mound gave tonight's start from <a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/3-key-pitchers-turn-things-around-september-playoff-push">José Berríos</a> a heavier dose of importance. Looking to rewrite the narrative from his recent starts, Berríos gave the Blue Jays a solid start, allowing just two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings with five hits, one walk, and four strikeouts. His most <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=9/10/2025&amp;gamePk=776385&amp;chartType=pitch&amp;legendType=pitchName&amp;playerType=pitcher&amp;inning=&amp;count=&amp;pitchHand=&amp;batSide=&amp;descFilter=&amp;ptFilter=&amp;resultFilter=&amp;hf=playerBreakdown&amp;sportId=1&amp;liveAb=#776385">effective</a> pitch of the night was his sinker, reaching as high as 95 mph and generating 13 called strikes/whiffs.

One of the more encouraging bits from tonight's start was the ground ball to fly ball ratio that Berríos posted. He surrendered nine ground ball outs versus just two fly ball outs, including an inning-ending double play hit by Carlos Correa in the top of the third inning. Unfortunately, Correa was able to get ahold of a Berríos changeup in the top of the sixth inning, hitting his 13th home run of the year, giving the Astros a 2-0 lead, and ending Berríos's night.

Following Berríos were some exceptional outings from some of Toronto's bullpen arms, particularly Braydon Fisher, who struck out a pair of batters and continued to impress with his devastating pitch mix. Louis Varland pitched only his third scoreless outing since August 12th, and Brendon Little was able to escape a jam in the top of the 8th.

The Blue Jays will look to win the series tomorrow with Kevin Gausman on the hill against Cristian Javier, who is making just his sixth start of the season since recovering from Tommy John surgery.

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