Scott Feldman finishes off Blue Jays

Scott Feldman finished what he started today. Only two hours and thirty-nine minutes after throwing the the first pitch, Feldman caught a popup off the bat of Colby Rasmus to complete a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was the Astros’ third straight win.

The Blue Jays got some traffic on the basepaths early against Feldman, thanks in part to some broken-bat bloopers. But the Astros starter was able to get double-play grounders to end both the second and third innings — limiting the damage to only one run.

Chris Carter‘s bases loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the third plated a pair of runs for Houston. That would turn out to be all the run support Scott Feldman would need. When the Astros tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning and chased heralded youngster Marcus Stroman from the mound, the wind seemed to go out of the sails of this Blue Jays team.

John Gibbons‘ makeshift lineup void of injured starters Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, and Brett Lawrie turned out to be no match for the Astros crafty right-hander. Feldman executed his game plan wonderfully, using his cutter and keeping the ball down. Scott recorded a total of 18 outs on ground balls in the game.

Feldman struck out two and walked two, scattering eight hits en route to his first win since June 29th. He threw 69 of his 109 pitches for strikes.

Jake Marisnick‘s fourth inning RBI single was his first hit in an Astros uniform. The centerfielder tallied two hits on the day, joining Matt Dominguez and Jon Singleton who had two hits apiece.

The Astros finished off the 10-game homestand with three straight wins. Now it’s on to Philadelphia for a short 3-game road trip. The Astros, playing perhaps their most inspired baseball of the year, will be forced to change gears and shift to National League rules. With Designated Hitter Chris Carter swinging a hot bat from the #3 spot in the lineup, it will be interesting to see what strategy Bo Porter chooses to employ. With all of the injuries in the Astros outfield, I would certainly be tempted to put Carter in leftfield.