For much of this game, it was a wild contest to see who could choke the worst. It was a close call, but in the end, Joey Loperfido came through with a three-run homer in the eleventh inning to break the deadlock and secure the win in Toronto to tie the series, one-one.
The Astros took an early lead after a Jose Altuve leadoff double resulted in the game’s first run on an Isaac Paredes two-out single.
Astros over-achieving starter Peter Lambert frustrated the Blue Jays in the first two innings, stranding the bases loaded in the first and leaving runners sitting on second and third in the second.
The Astros added three more runs in the third inning off (just-back-from-IL) Jays starter Shane Bieber on back-to-back-to-back jacks by Yainer Diaz (3), Cam Smith (8), and Taylor Trammell (1). The homers had exit velocities of 106, 107, and 108, respectively. It was the first three-in-a-row home run game for the Astros since 2019.
Call me greedy, but it was disappointing when the Astros left the bases loaded that inning after the three jacks, but in their fourth, the Blue Jays finally got to Lambert on a Daulton Varsho double and a Luis Urias homer (just up from AAA). However, Lambert limited the damage by striking out George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr to end the inning.
Lambert was removed with two outs and a runner on first in the fifth inning. Steve Okert allowed a Varsho double on a Cam Smith misplay, but struck out Urias, the Jays again leaving multiple runners in scoring position.
Lambert completed 4.2 innings, allowing two runs, six hits, three walks, and striking out six.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Blue Jays again stranded two runners, this time on a groundout by former Astros Jesus Sanchez off Enyal De Los Santos.
The Blue Jays managed to empty the bases in the seventh when Varsho homered to tie the score at four off Santos.
In the eighth inning, it was the Astros’ turn to choke. After two singles and a walk, with one out Brice Mathews struck out, and Raynel Delgado popped out to keep the score knotted.
Nate Pearson came in for the Stros in the eighth and melted down in every way possible. After getting out one on a warning track flyout, Pearson walked Springer on four pitches, who advanced on a wild pitch. Springer got to third when Pearson made a throwing error to first on a Guerrero dribbler. After Guerrero stole second, Kazuma Okamoto’s two-run single gave the Jays a 6-4 lead.
In the ninth, the Astros’ top-of-the-order loaded the bases on singles by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, and Paredes. With one out, a run scored when Joey Loperfido got to first on a catcher’s interference call, forcing home Altuve. Smith tied the score at six with a sacrifice fly. Jeremy Pena ended the inning with a groundout. The Astros stayed alive, but without a hit with runners in scoring position that could have given the Astros the lead.
After Josh Hader retired the Jays 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the game proceeded into extra innings.
In the tenth, Brice Mathews bunted the ghost runner, Pena, over to third. But Christian Vazquez popped out, and Altuve, who had three hits today, grounded out.
Not to be outdone, the Jays also failed in the tenth, advancing their ghost runner on a bunt against reliever Logan VanWey , but sluggers Springer and Guerrero failed to score him.
In the eleventh, the Blue Jays opened the inning by intentionally walking Alvarez. Braydon Fisher, in his second inning of work, got their first out with a K against Christian Walker, his third of the game, and then struck out Paredes.
And then, miracle of miracles, the Astros broke the choke deadlock when former Blue Jay Joey Loperfido gave the Astros a 9-6 lead with a monster blast just fair to right field to effectively end the game. It was his first homer of the season.
Winning pitcher VanWey kept the game interesting when he allowed an RBI single to Okamoto, and on a would-be double play, dropped the relay from shortstop, keeping Toronto’s hopes alive. But the Astros’ main nemesis today, Varsho, grounded out softly to second.
The Blue Jays were only 3-14 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base. The Astros were 3-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.
But that third hit was a doozy.
Espada’s pitching decisions baffle me. I was on board with pulling Lambert with 2 outs in the 5th with a runner on and a 2 run lead and a lefty up. Getting that 3rd out was key and Okert was a good matchup. It worked out but not in that way, but still it was a defensible decision.
But using de Los santos for multiple innings two days in a row? You can’t do that. And yes I understand the bullpen covered a lot of innings yesterday and the pen is short but the pen is short because you made it short by committing to a 6 man rotation this stretch. And there’s not many guys Espada trusts with narrow leads, but if you moved Teng back to the pen you’d have one more.
Happy because the Astros won but frustrated because it didn’t have to be this way.
Joe literally did the same thing in less than 24 hours. Absolutely stunning he is employed
But he deserves an extension
lol, and Grizzly Adam’s had a beard”
I know there is legitimacy to the old saw about how fruitless it is to criticize managers for their BP and PH decisions. But there comes a point where a manager so obviously flubs so many of them that criticism *has* to be warranted.
I think the most obvious example of that is when Espada is facing an above average strategic manager. Sometimes bad decisions work out and good ones don’t, but generally, Espada is outmanaged on the margins even when we win vs a team with a strategically gifted skip.
The one thing I will give him- and I give the players this more than him for reasons too long to elaborate on- is that the Astros of 2026 have showed very little despair this year. We saw it all year in 2024, and in the back half of 2025. I have skipped a few games this year but only in a few games have I seen the dugout “giving up”.
Players being sloppy and doing dumb things, yes. But not giving up. While I don’t credit Espada for this, at least he isn’t dragging the team’s morale into the gutter.
Well the manager is an easy target because a fan can more easily imagine themselves doing the job.
“If I were manager, I would have pinch hit player B for player A there.” You can convince yourself of that.
It’s harder for a fan to imagine themselves doing the job of a player.
“If I were batting in that spot, I would have hit a double to the gap.” You can’t convince yourself of that.
But yeah, there comes a point where yeah it’s easy to target the manager, but it’s also warranted.
Bad lineup card
Mismanagement of bullpen
Not pinch hitting Loperfido for Bryce with bases loaded in the 8th.
Did I miss anything Joe did wrong today?
Not starting him to begin with
My favorite moment of the game was the closeup in the dugout after Trammels’ upper deck home run. TV guys: “Even Yordan is impressed!”
I always found SkyDome/Rogers Centre upper deck homers to be hella impressive.
You really have to give that bitch some elevation to get it up there.
This game is a perfect example of process vs. results. I evaluate managers on the efficacy of decisions and not results. Results are random when the N is one. If you make sound decisions over time you can not only guarantee a higher rate of success but also defend them in failure. The opposite produces a Lou Brown effect of “I had a hunch he was due.”
Maybe is a fluke, but Altuve came back to live hitting in front of Yordan. I never liked Yordan hitting second. JP3, Altuve, Yordan should be tried for a while. Altuve is very capable with a bat, hitting 5th. is a waste of his talent. Paredes offer better protection behind Yordan.
10 Ks tonight seems like a lot. Both teams had 10Ks.
Maybe in to something there. Whatever it was, it worked
I also really don’t like Walker in the 3rd spot. 4th is okay and 5th is better.
I don’t mind Altuve in the 2 hole between Pena and Yordan. I was also thinking maybe put alternatively Paredes in the 2 spot in front of Yordan. Sees more pitches, has a good walk rate and OBP. Just kind of slow though.
Yordan in the 3 hole is nice, but I also don’t hate him in the 2. I love how quickly his spot comes up when they turn over the order.
I was thinking in terms of advancing the runners for Yordan. Hitting 2nd, Yordan will have more at bats, but see less runners on the bases and on score position. If more AB is very important, he should hit first.
This kind of explains why roster construction is so important. Because I agree it’s nice for Yordan to come up quick in that second hole after turning the line up order. It is also the perfect time to build the bottom third of the line up with a lot of high OBP guys. Get one or two on base, and Pena should see less out of the zone sliders due too a lurking Yordan. I think right now that is why any line up with both Jake and Brice is so painful too watch.
In case’s like that it might be better to push Yordan down to three.
Looking at the last 162 of data, Altuve in reality is a league average offensive player and a huge negative on defense and the basepaths. I think the only reason he hit 1 today was a temporary cover for JP3 and and an effort not to disrupt the others in the lineup.
I am not an Espada supporter but it should be noted that it was a aggressive but measured call to deploy Hader in the 9th. It was chasing a win today as a means of avoiding a sweep (unfavorable pitching matchup tomorrow). As for DLS covering 2IP, what other realistic choice was there? VanWey in the 7th? (Congrats to VanY on the W!)
Many things that Altuve can do and does are not recorded.
Build The Statue NOW!!!!!
done.