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Astros hope to salvage set with Blue Jays

Jun 7, 2015 - 2:15 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Suffering through their second three-game slide of the season, the Houston Astros try to get back on track Sunday afternoon as they settle up with the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

Houston, which dropped three straight versus in-state rival Texas at home this time last month, is still the division leader in the American League West, but with the Rangers having won three straight the gap has now closed to just 3 1/2 games between the Lone Star State clubs.

On Saturday the Astros scored only two runs for the third game in a row, which wasn't nearly enough as the Jays plated seven en route to their fourth straight victory. Kevin Pillar and Justin Smoak both knocked in a pair of runs for the hosts, now sitting in third place in the AL East.

Jose Bautista had a hit and walked twice as he scored two times and Josh Donaldson extended his streak of reaching base safely to 39 straight games when he was hit by a pitch to start off the bottom of the sixth.

Also giving the home team a spark was Jose Reyes who stole three bases.

"It keeps the pressure on the other team when there's that threat," Toronto manager John Gibbons said of the Blue Jays' five steals in the contest. "The pitcher can't just sit back and do his normal thing."

Toronto starter Drew Hutchison was rewarded with his fifth win as he surrendered only one run on six hits and a walk, striking out five over 6 1/3 innings.

Brett Oberholtzer wasn't as lucky for the Astros as he made it through only 3 2/3 innings and was saddled with the loss, his first of the campaign. Oberholtzer was tagged for four runs -- two earned -- on six hits and three walks.

Jose Altuve accounted for three hits and knocked in a run, while Evan Gattis and Jonathan Villar both contributed a pair of hits, the latter going deep for his first home run.

Now on with his third team since 2013, Collin McHugh seeks his seventh win of the season as he takes the hill for Houston this afternoon. The right-hander, who began the campaign with four straight wins, was up against Baltimore at home in his last outing on Tuesday and came out on top.

In that meeting McHugh made it through seven innings, permitting four runs on six hits and a two walks, striking out six, as the Astros secured the 6-4 win.

An 18th-round draft pick by the New York Mets in 2008, McHugh is 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA in two previous appearances against Toronto.

R.A. Dickey, who was also a member of the Mets before moving north of the border, goes for the Jays. The knuckleballer has had a rough start to the season with only two wins in eight decisions and is carrying a lofty 5.53 ERA into the weekend.

Earlier in the week Dickey suffered his third setback in the last four decisions even though he surrendered just two runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings at Washington. The right-hander struck out six along the way, but the Toronto bats failed to perform in the 2-0 road loss.

Dickey clashed with Houston in the middle of last month and was beaten around for seven runs on 10 hits in only five innings. With that eventual loss the hurler dropped to 2-5 in his career versus the Astros, sporting a 5.11 ERA over the course of 12 appearances.