Astros 3, Blue Jays 1: Oof.

 

You said it, George Springer

This one was pretty straightforward, really: the starting pitchers, Trey Yesavage and Mike Burrows, each allowed a first-inning run, and then pitched ably into the sixth. From there, Jeff Hoffman allowed an eighth-inning triple off the wall, despite Daulton Varsho's best efforts, and a botched pickoff attempt at third (weird play: Kirk was probably wrong to call it; Okamoto missed the sign; and Hoffman tossed it right by him [Hoffman was the least at fault of the three, for those of you scoring along at home]) brought home the go-ahead run. The Blue Jays had a real chance to tie it in the bottom of that same inning, when Springer ripped one to the wall in right, but Cam Smith stuck with it, made a fine catch, and doubled Luis Urias, who had badly misread the ball, off of second base. It's true that Mason Fluharty struggled in the ninth and allowed a further run, but it's not particularly germane to the outcome. 

Kind of drag, this one! Two tough losses to drop the series. Hey, though, did you know that over the last thirty games or so, the Blue Jays have actually been the third-best team in baseball behind the Dodgers (fair enough) and Brewers (you know what, also fair)? I sure would not have been able to tell you that had this apparently factual information not been fashioned into a handsome graphic and shared on the Sportsnet broadcast! Oh hey, also on the Sportsnet broadcast generally, for a moment, if I may: although Dan Shulman remains the finest play-by-playiste of his generation, I really do feel that the colour commentary situation has become fairly dire. We all knew there was no replacing Buck Martinez, who, for all his quirks (perhaps because of them), is at least as beloved as Tom Cheek and Jerry Howarth as far as voices of the Blue Jays go, but we have been alternating between Joe Siddell, whose aspect has thus far been that of a fussy scold, and Caleb Joseph, whose command of the language has not yet proven up to the task. Let us assume that they are both lovely people; what's more, let us wish nothing but the best for them. But neither has been an inviting on-air presence with which to spend hours and hours each week, in my view. I am fond of Chris Leroux's easy, chatty colour commentary on the radio broadcast, though I appreciate that his aspect might be a little lower-energy than what they'd be after for television; but I can't for the life of me figure out why Madison Shipman, who has been great in every role she has taken on, hasn't been given a real shot at it: her technical knowledge is excellent; she's a much more articulate communicator than several of her peers who get more play; and she's super pleasant! I know I have been on this for a while, forgive me, but I am becoming more steadfast in my resolve on this with each passing game. I am very close to becoming a single-issue voter. I can feel it coming. I am going to be very unpleasant to talk to about any of this. 

KS