Blue Jays: Chris Bassett was left to his own devices with an anemic at-bat against the Astros

HOUSTON – Yordan Alvarez had a solid outing, hitting a career-high with four hits including two home runs, and the Houston Astros largely dominated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-0 on Wednesday night.

The Astros (2-5) have won two of their three meetings against the Jays, by a combined points margin of 17 points (19-2).

Two days after falling victim to a no-hitter from starter Ronel Blanco, the Jays (3-4) got just a meager hit in this game.

The performance of John Schneider's men in this three-game series was worrying, given that only two points for his club were scored in the same group.

Cristian Javier (1-0) pitched five innings and allowed the visitors their only hit. Seth Martinez, Rafael Montero, Tyler Scott and Dylan Coleman then took over with one inning of work each.

It was the breakthrough for Alvarez, who started this match having hit just three singles in six matches. This was his 16th career game.

“It was only a matter of time,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. Anytime he can come out like that and hit balls hard, that's a good sign, that's what we need. »

The Cuban hit the long ball at the expense of starter Chris Bassett (0-2) in the third period, before hitting the same ball to Tim Maiza in the sixth period.

Daulton Varsho hit a double after a strikeout against Javier in Game 2, and aside from seven walks, the Jays never got back on track with a strikeout.

“We're not doing a lot of damage with the balls we hit in the bullpen right now,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. This is part of the story of this series. »

Jeremy Pena added a two-run slap, and Jose Altuve hit a solo home run to deliver the knockout blow.

The Jays begin a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday, when they send Yusei Kikuchi to the mound to face Toronto graduate right-hander Marcus Stroman.

An encouraging test for Manoah

Right-hander Alec Manuwa pitched three innings in a simulated game on Tuesday.

“He did very well,” manager John Schneider said. “I think he threw 48 or 49 pitches and felt good. He had six strikeouts. His control was good, and the speed was, too; he got into the 95-96 mph range. He was good. »

According to Schneider, the next step is “most likely” to join the Dunedin branch at A-level on Sunday. He could see action for four innings and add “at least fifteen pitches” more than today.

Manoh suffers from constant shoulder pain and has only played one game in the Grapefruit League.