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Astros seek better results against Jays

Jun 6, 2015 - 2:07 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Despite losing two in a row, the Houston Astros continue to own the best record in the American League as they prepare to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in the second of a three-game set at Rogers Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Houston, just 5-5 over the last 10 outings, is still 4 1/2 games ahead of the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West standings and the only team in baseball with fewer than 10 defeats on the road. However, the Astros were stymied by Toronto pitching on Friday, held scoreless until the ninth inning as they came up short in a 6-2 setback.

Jason Castro launched his sixth home run of the season for the visitors and Jonathan Villar also scored a run for Houston. Starting pitcher Roberto Hernandez was tagged this his fifth loss as he gave up six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits and a pair of walks, striking out only one over 5 2/3 innings of action.

Aaron Sanchez captured the win for the Jays as the starter gave up just the two runs, on six hits, and striking out three over eight innings.

"For us to not draw a walk, and for him to be so pitch efficient, that's why they're excited about him and the future he has ahead of him," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Sanchez.

"They got a good offense, they can do some damage," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of the Astros. "They've been doing it all year late in the game. [Sanchez] was tremendous. The more he goes deeper into the game, now he's gaining confidence, he knows he can do it. He was easy to watch, a lot of ground balls, strike after strike."

Jose Reyes connected on his first home run of the season and Jose Bautista notched his ninth as both players knocked in a pair of runs for the hosts, who are now third in the AL East and 4 1/2 games out of contention. Chris Colabello accounted for three hits, an RBI and a run scored as he raised his batting average to .366 through 29 games.

Making just his third appearance of the season will be Brett Oberholtzer when he toes the rubber for the Astros this afternoon. The left-hander, who recently came off the disabled list after dealing with a blister, had a solid showing on Monday against Baltimore at home, but again was left without a decision.

Oberholtzer, a Delaware native, allowed just two runs on seven hits and a pair of walks, while striking out three over 5 1/3 innings. It was his first appearance since scattering five hits in three innings versus San Francisco on May 13. While Oberholtzer did not figure into those decisions, but ended up as victories for Houston.

In his brief three-year career at the major league level, Oberholtzer has a mark of 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA versus Toronto.

As for the Jays, they've penciled in Drew Hutchison to counter Oberholtzer. Hutchison, who suffered his first loss of the season on May 20 versus the Angels, followed that effort up with a complete-game shutout against the White Sox five days later.

More recently the right-hander clashed with the Minnesota Twins on Sunday and was touched for four runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. Hutchison came up with yet another no-decision, similar to his two previous outings against Houston in his career.

Despite being one of the top teams in baseball, the Astros have the weakest batting average of any club in the American League at .235, while Toronto is third from the top at .264. The key for Houston has been the team's ability to deliver the long ball, connecting on a league-best 76 home runs.

Not that far behind are the Jays with 66 home runs, complemented by a league- best 117 doubles in order to generate a league-high .438 slugging percentage and a .768 OPS. Unfortunately, Toronto also has to deal with the fact that it has the highest team ERA in the AL at 4.35. Houston has a team ERA of 3.55.