Field Level Media
Sep 24, 2018
Brian McCann and Josh Reddick hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning, Dallas Keuchel pitched five innings, and the visiting Houston Astros defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 Monday night.
Keuchel (12-11) allowed three runs, seven hits and three walks while striking out five.
Houston (99-57) maintained a 4 1/2-game lead over the A's (95-62) in the American League West. Oakland beat the Mariners 7-3 in Seattle on Monday.
Former Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna was booed when he entered for the ninth, pitching around a single for his 10th save with the Astros and his 19th this season overall. Toronto traded him to Houston July 30 at the end of a 75-game suspension given by Major League Baseball following an assault charge.
Kevin Pillar hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays.
Toronto starter Marco Estrada (7-14) gave up four runs, seven hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out one.
The Astros scored once in the first inning when Yuli Gurriel extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI single, driving in George Springer, who had doubled.
Houston extended the lead to 3-0 in the second on the consecutive homers by McCann (No. 6) and Reddick (No. 16).
The Astros scored in the third when Jose Altuve singled, took second on a wild pitch and came home on Alex Bregman's double.
Pillar's 15th homer of the season followed Justin Smoak's fourth-inning double, cutting the Blue Jays' deficit to 4-2.
Estrada was replaced with two outs and two on in the fifth by Tim Mayza, who struck out two in one scoreless inning.
The Blue Jays (71-86) scored another run in the bottom of the fifth on Yangervis Solarte's RBI single, but they left the bases loaded.
Houston's Joe Smith allowed a single and retired two batters in the sixth before Will Harris yielded a single before getting the third out.
Solarte led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and Tony Sipp entered to coax a double-play grounder from Smoak. Brad Peacock finished the inning with a strikeout.
Ryan Pressly pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth for Houston.
Jake Marisnick's double and Altuve's single against Joe Biagini in the top of the ninth extended Houston's lead to two runs.
Toronto's Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left the game due to a tight left hamstring after grounding into a double play in the first inning.
--Field Level Media