Toronto Blue Jays at Houston Astros

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
TOR	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	5	5	0
HOU	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	10	1

Hunter Brown (3-1, 3.23 ERA) took the ball for Houston at 1:10 PM CT looking to salt away the finale, while Jameson Taillon (2-6, 6.04 ERA) tried to put a rough Pittsburgh start behind him and give Toronto some length in the series' rubber match.

Show fees

FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Blue Jays(53-61)

LWLWW

5

+1.5+104+208o8.5+120

Astros(59-56)

WLWWW

4

-1.5-106-208u8.5-120

Best BetAstros -178

Postgame

This one missed. Brown and the Astros led into the 6th just like the bull case wanted, but the bear case — that Toronto had already shown it could beat this club — is exactly what happened, with the Jays tying it late and finishing it off with a 2-run 9th. Houston out-hit Toronto 10-5 and still dropped the finale.

Pregame

Houston's the play here, and the price reflects a team that's simply been better lately — winners in 4 of their last 5 with the better starter on the mound today. Taillon's ugly recent numbers make Toronto a tough sell as road underdogs, even with the plus-money look. Lay the price and back the Astros to handle business at home.

Toronto's already down a starter after Trey Yesavage left this same series with left knee inflammation and landed on the 15-day injured list, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was out of the lineup Wednesday too — a lot to ask of a rotation also missing Jose Berrios and Patrick Corbin. Houston, meanwhile, is still waiting on Carlos Correa and Brice Matthews, though sharp money clearly liked the Astros' chances anyway, piling onto Houston for more than $14,000 across dozens of bets pregame.

Jameson Taillon

(2-6)·5.68 ERA

Jul 26 @ Pirates

L

4.0IP

7ER

3K

2BB

69P

08/05 Lineup

Hunter Brown

(3-3)·3.67 ERA

Jul 31 vs Rangers

W

5.2IP

2ER

5K

2BB

104P

08/05 Lineup

None of that mattered for the first six innings. Houston jumped on Taillon early and looked like it was cruising toward a series win behind Brown, who came in hot off his last outing against Texas.

The Astros put up 3 runs in the 3rd and made it hold up until Toronto finally broke through with a 3-run 6th to tie it. The two clubs traded zeroes through the 7th and 8th before the finale turned into a track meet — Toronto pushed across 2 in the 9th, and even after Houston clawed one back in the bottom half, it wasn't enough.

Houston actually out-hit Toronto 10-5 and still lost, the kind of game that should sting more given they're the ones sitting atop the AL West. An error didn't help matters, and for a team that's been stacking wins lately, dropping a series finale to a sub-.500 club is the sort of loss that lingers.

Toronto Blue Jays

(53-61)

Aug 5L@ Astros2-7

Aug 4W@ Astros3-1

Aug 2Lvs Cardinals1-5

Aug 1Wvs Cardinals5-1

Jul 31Wvs Cardinals3-1

Houston Astros

(59-56)

Aug 5Wvs Blue Jays7-2

Aug 4Lvs Blue Jays1-3

Aug 2Wvs Rangers7-3

Aug 1Wvs Rangers5-4

Aug 1Wvs Rangers11-2

Toronto Blue Jays

(12)

• Day-To-DayVladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B) — Guerrero is not in the lineup for Wednesday's matchup against Houston.08/05
• 10-Day-ILJonatan Clase (LF) — Clase (foot) isn't in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rays.07/22
• 15-Day-ILTrey Yesavage (SP) — Toronto placed Vesavage on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to left knee inflammation.08/05
• 15-Day-ILPatrick Corbin (SP) — The Blue Jays placed Corbin on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a left teres major strain.07/23
• 60-Day-ILLenyn Sosa (2B) — Sosa (wrist) will resume taking live batting practice this week, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.08/02
• 60-Day-ILJoe Mantiply (RP) — Mantiply (knee) has resumed throwing bullpen sessions, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.07/27
• 60-Day-ILYimi Garcia (RP) — Garcia (elbow/neck/biceps) has been pulled off his rehab assignment and will be examined by a doctor for possible thoracic outlet syndrome, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.07/27
• 60-Day-ILAddison Barger (RF) — Barger is expected to be sidelined six months following surgery Monday to repair his right elbow UCL, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.07/27
• 60-Day-ILAnthony Santander (RF) — Santander is still dealing with discomfort in his surgically repaired left shoulder and recently received another cortisone shot, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.07/17
• 60-Day-ILJose Berrios (SP) — Blue Jays manager John Schneider said that Berrios underwent full Tommy John surgery Wednesday in addition to having a stress fracture repaired, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.05/27
• 60-Day-ILCody Ponce (SP) — Ponce underwent surgery Friday to repair the ACL in his right knee, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.05/08
• 60-Day-ILBowden Francis (SP) — The Blue Jays placed Francis (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Wednesday.05/08

Houston Astros

(4)

• 10-Day-ILBrice Matthews (CF) — General manager Dana Brown said Sunday that the Astros are targeting "mid-August, potentially the third week of August" for Matthews' (knee) return from the 10-day injured list, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.08/05
• 15-Day-ILMike Burrows (SP) — Burrows (elbow) threw a 35-pitch live batting practice session Friday, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.07/31
• 60-Day-ILCarlos Correa (SS) — Correa (ankle) was cleared to swing a bat Tuesday and is hopeful to return from the 60-day injured list before the end of the season, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.08/04
• 60-Day-ILBrandon Walter (SP) — The Astros announced Friday that Walter (elbow) is in the midst of a throwing progression at the team's complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.06/04

Toronto, for its part, is still a long way from meaningful October relevance at 53-61, but stealing a rubber match in Houston is exactly the kind of game a club chasing a wild-card spot needs to bank while it waits for its rotation to heal up.