Final
Cabrera goes deep again as Jays top Astros
Apr 9, 2014 - 6:11 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Melky Cabrera homered for the fourth straight game and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Houston Astros, 5-2, at Rogers Centre.Jose Bautista hit a solo shot, Dioner Navarro went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI and Edwin Encarnacion went 1-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored for the Blue Jays, who took the opener of a three-game set.
Toronto starter Mark Buehrle (2-0), who punched out 11 batters in his season debut against Tampa Bay, tossed 5 1/3 innings on Tuesday, allowing eight hits and one run with three strikeouts and a walk.
"I'm not striking out 11, I'm not going to strikeout 11 guys in my next five starts combined," said Buehrle. "I need my defense behind me."
Jose Altuve finished 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI for Houston, while Chris Carter had two doubles and Matt Dominguez added an RBI.
Brett Oberholtzer (0-2) toed the slab for the Astros and surrendered three runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5 1/3 frames.
"I thought he did a good job keeping us in the ball game," said Astros manager Bo Porter on Oberholtzer. "Those last two walks in the sixth really hurt us. We had our opportunities. We had men on base with less than two outs. When you get in those situations you have to capitalize."
Houston has dropped five of its last six since opening the season with two straight wins over the New York Yankees.
Bautista opened the scoring with a deep drive to left-center and give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
Carter poked a pitch down the right-field line to lead off the second inning and he scored two batters later when Dominguez skied a sacrifice fly to center.
Navarro doubled home Encarnacion in the bottom of the fourth to break the deadlock and then plated Encarnacion two innings later to make it 3-1.
Aaron Loup walked the first two batters he faced to begin the seventh inning. Jonathan Villar and Robbie Grossman, who walked to lead off the frame, worked a double steal to put both runners in scoring position with no outs.
Encarnacion made a diving stab on Altuve's grounder and Villar crossed the plate to trim the deficit to 3-2. Loup then struck out Dominguez and induced a fly out from Alex Presley in the following at-bat to get out of the jam.
After a walk to Jonathan Diaz, Cabrera slammed one over the left-field wall to increase the cushion to 5-2 after seven. Sergio Santos came in to close it out in the ninth and struck out the side to earn his third save of the season.
Game Notes
Cabrera had just three homers in 88 games last season ... Houston finished with nine hits, while Toronto ended with five ... The Astros were 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position ... Buehrle entered the game 3-0 with a 0.72 ERA in the regular season against Houston ... Astros' Lucas Harrell and Toronto's Brandon Morrow are the probable starters for Wednesday.
- HOUSTON: 2
TORONTO: 5
Final
Apr 8 10:01 PM - Melky Cabrera two-out, two-run Home Run (4) to left center scored Jonathan Diaz. Adam Lind due up.
Astros 2, Blue Jays 5 Bot 7, 2 OutsApr 8 9:22 PM - Jose Altuve grounded out first to pitcher scored Jonathan Villar. On the play, Robbie Grossman advances to third. Runner on third with one out and Jesus Guzman due up.
Astros 2, Blue Jays 3 Top 7, 1 OutApr 8 9:07 PM - Dioner Navarro doubled to left scored Edwin Encarnacion. Runner on second with two outs and Brett Lawrie due up.
Astros 1, Blue Jays 3 Bot 6, 2 OutsApr 8 8:57 PM - Dioner Navarro doubled to left scored Edwin Encarnacion. Runner on second with one out and Brett Lawrie due up.
Astros 1, Blue Jays 2 Bot 4, 1 OutApr 8 8:10 PM - Matt Dominguez sacrifice fly out to center scored Chris Carter. None on with two outs and Alex Presley due up.
Astros 1, Blue Jays 1 Top 2, 2 OutsApr 8 7:29 PM - Jose Bautista two-out, solo Home Run (4) to left center. Edwin Encarnacion due up.
Astros 0, Blue Jays 1 Bot 1, 2 OutsApr 8 7:18 PM - HOUSTON: 0
TORONTO: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Apr 8 7:08 PM
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