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Happ zaps Astros as Jays grab share of first
- Updated: August 5, 2016
HOUSTON — After relying exclusively on solo home runs in the first three games of their series against the Astros at Minute Maid Park, the Blue Jays eked out some runs in a 4-1 win in the finale Thursday night.
Devon Travis scored on Josh Donaldson’s RBI groundout in the first inning, and Russell Martin reached on an infield single and scored on a wild pitch from Mike Fiers in the fifth to back a quality outing from lefty J.A. Happ, who gave up one run and four hits in six innings to become the American League’s first 15-game winner. Travis added an RBI single in the eighth,and Edwin Encarnacion homered in the ninth off James Hoyt.
“It’s absolutely incredible … to score 10 runs in a series and to come out with three of four says something special about our pitching,” said Travis, whose team pulled even with Baltimore for first place in the AL East. “They’ve been incredible all year and it’s just a pleasure to play behind them.”
The reeling Astros, who have lost eight of 10 games to fall 6 1/2 games behind the Rangers in the AL West, managed a run in the fifth on an RBI double by Tyler White. Houston has scored seven runs in its last six games and hasn’t scored more than two runs in a game since Friday’s loss at Detroit.
“We’re searching for solutions,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’re a better offense than this. And sometimes you go in a few ruts individually and sometimes you go through it collectively, and right now the collectively part is pretty painful. You look at the other side and I know Toronto’s a good offense and you hold them to 10 runs in a four-game series and you feel good about it, but we didn’t score near enough to split the series or win the series.”
MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDThe 6-4-3: Toronto was clinging to a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning when Astros cleanup hitter Carlos Correa stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and one out. Happ seemed to be in trouble against one of the league’s top young players, but he managed to escape the jam by inducing a double-play grounder to shortstop. The throw to Travis at second base was a little low, but Justin Smoak managed to dig the ball out of the dirt as the Blue Jays got Correa at first base by an inch or two.
“I thought he started laboring in that sixth inning, but he got that big …
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