Toronto 2, Houston 1
W: Buehrle (10-7)
L: Lo (0-2)
It was another game lost by the bullpen, but at least in this one the starting pitching went farther than usual. Keuchel went seven and only gave up four hits and three walks. Granted, it was to the movie-set facade of what we expected to be The Toronto Blue Jays this season, but none of us saw this coming from Keuchel. He has been better than the poor man’s Aaron Harang, coming out of nowhere to show command of multiple pitches around the fringes of the strike zone and is a worthy #5 guy.
Personal comfort is all he gets out of this one, because even though Fields was able to hold through the eighth, Lo came on and melted away in the ninth. A bloop single and three walks tied it up, and then Kevin Chapman came in to allow the winning run on a fielder’s choice.
Houston loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame against closer Casey Janssen, but Cody Clark bounced out to end the threat and keep the Jays from being swept.
Why did Porter keep Lo out there when he obviously had no command at all? That’s a great question, and you must not have anything to do with Houston media because that question didn’t get asked. “It’s how you battle. I thought Lo did a great job of battling, even though he walked a few guys. He did a great job for us. He had a 0.90 ERA before today. It’s one of those things.”