But Liriano got out of it and looked to be breezing his way through a sixth inning, retiring the first two Astros he faced and getting two strikes on Teoscar Hernandez, who was making his major league debut. Left-hander Brett Cecil replaced him and walked George Springer to load the bases before Alex Bregman flied out to right to end the inning.Musgrove was a supplemental first-round pick by Toronto in 2011 and went to Houston in a 10-player trade that brought left-hander J.A. Happ to the Blue Jays in July, 2012.He was called up from Triple-A Fresno and struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings of relief in his major league debut August 2 against Toronto.Pat Neshek replaced Musgrove and pitched a ideal eighth.Scott Feldman pitched around two infield hits and a walk to leave the bases loaded in the top of the ninth.Correa hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the third.It scored Hernandez and George Springer, both of whom had walk Bregman loaded the bases with a single and Altuve lined out to third before Correa drove in his 79th and 80th runs of the season.The Blue Jays scored once in their half of the third.
Advertisement
Former Pittsburgh Pirate Francisco Liriano makes his second start for the Blue Jays on Friday.
Musgrove, who was traded to Houston in July 2012 in a deal that sent J.A. Happ to Toronto, had given the present-day Jays a taste of his talents on August 2 when he allowed just one hit and one walk against them, while striking out eight, in 4.1 innings of relief. Veteran left-hander Francisco Liriano will try to cool off the Astros, who will send promising rookie Joe Musgrove to the hill in the opener.TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, ROOT (Houston), Sportsnet One, TVA Sports (Toronto) PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Joe Musgrove (0-0, 0.79 ERA) vs.
Two of them played a big part in Friday night’s win at Toronto. He pitched 5.2 innings and allowed eight hits (including a home run and four doubles), was touched for five earned runs and walked two. Liriano issued a one-walk to George Springer, and Alex Bregman singled to give Houston three baserunners.
Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve had two RBIs each as Houston extended its winning streak to four. He had not allowed more than two runs in his previous eight starts, a span in which he went 5-0 with a 1.67 ERA. “It’s definitely good to get that first one out of the way, get the nerves and stuff out of the way”.
Musgrove-a former Blue Jays prospect traded to the Astros in a 2012 deal for J.A. Happ-located his fastball well, mixing in a deceptive slider and the occasional changeup to keep Toronto hitters off balance all night.
“He used all four of his pitches”, Hinch said.
Hernandez found out Thursday that he was being selected from Triple-A, and was too excited to sleep before catching a 4:00 A.M. flight from Fresno.
“I never thought I was going to get there”, Encarnacion said of the milestone through an interpreter.
One positive takeaway for the Blue Jays came off the bat of Edwin Encarnacion, who hit his 300th career home run in the bottom of the ninth.
John Gibbons wouldn’t say when, but the Toronto Blue Jays intend to occasionally skip Aaron Sanchez in the rotation. “He puts himself in a different category with 300”. Then Michael Saunders led off the bottom half of the fourth by knocking a Musgrove two-seamer over the wall in left for his 20th home run of the season.
Pat Neshek handled the eighth and Will Harris worked around Encarnacion’s homer in the ninth for his 12th save. He posted a quality start in his first outing with the Blue Jays on August 5 against the Royals – 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 R, 7 H, 5 K, 2 BB.
Advertisement
“It’s been happening a lot for me this year”, Liriano said in reference to the walks, two of which came around to score on Friday. He entered play Friday batting.321 with one home run and nine RBIs in eight games at three minor league levels.
