Astros Were 3 Outs from a Sweep As Lo Blows the Save

After scoring eight runs last night and 12 runs on Friday, the Astros’ bats went cold this afternoon as they went looking for the sweep at home against Mark Buehrle and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Dallas Keuchel (Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports)

Coming off of a scoreless inning to record his second save of the season last night, Chia-Jen Lo could not keep the momentum up.

Brett Lawrie started the ninth inning off with a leadoff walk which was followed up by an Adam Lind single. Lo then promptly walked Munenori Kawasaki and Moises Sierra to blow the save and tie the game. Pinch runner Anthony Gose scored on a Ryan Goins ground ball to put the Blue Jays ahead for good.

With two outs in the ninth inning Jason Castro walked to give the Astros some life. Villar followed with his third hit of the game, and Brett Wallace walked to load the bases. Cody Clark, who is still looking for his first hit, grounded out to end the game.

In the process, an excellent start by Dallas Keuchel was wasted. The lefty pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out two and only allowing four hits and three walks.

Blue Jays’ starter Mark Buehrle kept Houston’s bats quiet for the most part all afternoon as he scattered seven hits and two walks in eight innings while striking out seven. In the second inning, the stage was set for the Astros to bust the game wide open, but they only managed one run.

A bunt single by Jonathan Villar following a Brandon Barnes single and Matt Dominguez walk loaded the bases with no outs. Jake Elmore, who got the start at second base while Jose Altuve got a partial day off as a DH, promptly ended the rally by hitting into a double play scoring Dominguez. That ended up being the only offense Houston mustered as they lost 2-1.

In what is yet again a continuing theme, Robbie Grossman continued his hot hitting going 2-4 with a pair of singles. Grossman extended his hitting streak to 12 games and raised his average to .272. L.J. Hoes picked up another hit, and Villar also continued having success with three singles on the afternoon although he did get picked off.

Today was not the best way to end the series, but ultimately you can’t argue with a series win.