TORONTO — George Springer hit a three-run homer against his former team, Spencer Horwitz added a solo homer and the Toronto Blue Jays held on to beat the Houston Astros 7-6 on Tuesday night.
Yordan Alvarez hit a home run and scored twice as Houston nearly came back from a 7-0 deficit, but the Astros lost for just the second time in their last 12 games.
José Berríos (8-6) pitched five innings to win back-to-back starts for the first time since a three-game winning streak from April 8-20. The right-hander allowed five runs and five hits.
Chad Green pitched around Jeremy Peña’s double in the top of the ninth inning for his third save in three chances.
Houston’s Jose Altuve had three hits but hit a fly ball to center field to end the game.
“We fought back,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “We gave ourselves a chance at the end.”
Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 1 for 3 with a walk and scored twice in his return to the lineup after being sidelined in Monday’s loss. Guerrero was hit in the fingers by a 96 mph fastball from Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole on Sunday.
Toronto’s Justin Turner opened the scoring with a two-out single off Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti in the first inning, and the Blue Jays used two homers to add four more runs with a two-out rally in the third.
Horwitz hit a home run to the front of the second deck in right field, and Guerrero followed with a double. Turner drew a walk before Springer hit a home run into the Toronto left-field bullpen. Springer’s home run was his fourth in seven games.
“That’s what we were missing, that big hit with guys on base,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.
The Blue Jays are 31-6 when scoring five or more goals.
Blue Jays rookie Addison Barger hit an RBI double in the fourth inning and Alejandro Kirk scored on a passed ball.
Arrighetti (4-7) allowed seven runs, six earned and six hits in four innings.
Turner’s hit, both homers and Barger’s double all came on four-seam fastballs.
“I think they understood I was going to throw more fastballs than I have so far,” Arrighetti said. “They were on time. I could have done a better job mixing up the speeds with some guys.”
Horwitz saw four fastballs in his first at-bat and was anticipating the pitch when he got to third.
“He’s got a good fastball,” Horwitz said. “You’ll feel like it’s on top of you. I really felt that in my first at-bat. I think the team saw it the first time in the lineup and really got him going the second time.”
The Astros chased Berrios with a five-run fifth. Salazar and Altuve hit singles and Alvarez hit a three-run home run on a pitch to make it 3-0.
LIST EVOLUTION
Houston sent IF/OF Cooper Hummel to Triple-A Sugar Land and recalled INF Grae Kessinger.
TRAINERS’ ROOM
Astros: Right-handed pitcher JP France underwent surgery on his right shoulder Monday and will miss the remainder of the season, the team said.
Blue Jays: Toronto placed infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa (left knee strain) on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Monday, and recalled infielder Leo Jimenez from Triple-A Buffalo. Manager John Schneider said Kiner-Falefa will need more than 10 days to recover and called it “week to week.”
FOLLOWING
Astros right-handed pitcher Ronel Blanco (8-3, 2.49 ERA), who gave up no hits for the Blue Jays in April, is expected to start Wednesday night against Toronto left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (4-8, 4.18 ERA).
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