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June 23 Gameday: Blue Jays go for series win against Astros in Shane Bieber’s return

Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

By Aidan Sinclair

Jun 23, 2026, 13:30 EDTUpdated: Jun 23, 2026, 13:26 EDT

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The Blue Jays, despite leaving 13 runners on base, were able to fend off the Houston Astros Monday night to climb back to .500. This was thanks to a Kazuma Okamoto solo home run and three sacrifice flies to win 4-2.

Though they had multiple opportunities to break open the game Monday night, the Jays were the better offensive team, outhitting the Astros 11-5, with Houston not recording a single XBH. Dylan Cease had another up-and-down outing, going 5.2 innings, striking out eight, and allowing just two runs, but walking four and throwing 110 pitches.

His season ERA now sits at 2.75. Braydon Fisher recorded four outs on six pitches and picked up the win, with Louis Varland collecting his sixteenth save of the season.

The Jays’ record now sits at an even 39-39, good for third in the American League East, holding the final Wild Card spot, one game ahead of the Athletics and Rangers. Though it has been a struggle for the Jays to gain any momentum and stretch their record to multiple games over .500, their next nine at home come against teams not currently in the playoff picture; a perfect time to pounce.

Today, they welcome back a former Cy Young winner to the mound for his first big league start of 2026.

Shane Bieber is returning to a big league mound for the first time since last season, when he pitched all the way through to game seven of the World Series, an intense workload after coming back from Tommy John surgery. Over the past few weeks, he has built up to a reasonable workload in triple-A Buffalo, most recently throwing 80 pitches across five innings, with a fastball around 92 mph. In his first test at the big league level, he goes up against an Astros lineup that ranks eighth-worst in team OPS in their last 15 games, with Yordan Alvarez being the only everyday hitter with an OPS over .800.

On the other hand, Peter Lambert takes the ball for the Astros, coming off one of his best starts of the season last week against the Tigers. The right-hander went seven innings, allowing just one run on two hits, walking two, and striking out five to pick up the win. He has been exceptional to start June, with 18.2 innings across three starts thus far, for a 1.93 ERA.

The Blue Jays’ lineup features five right-handed hitters with George Springer leading off, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batting second, newly acquired Luis Urias batting seventh, and Myles Straw batting eighth. Jesus Sanchez moves up to the three spot in the lineup, with Daulton Varsho batting sixth and Andres Gimenez batting ninth.

Okamoto looks to keep the power streak alive, hitting cleanup today, with Brandon Valenzuela catching Shane Bieber’s first start of the campaign.

Location: Rogers Centre – Toronto, Canada

First Pitch: 4:07 PM EST

Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590