3 Takeaways From Blue Jays 3-1 Win Over Astros

Kevin Gausman struck out 13 Houston batters as the Blue Jays beat the Astros.

Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Jordan Romano got the night off.

The Blue Jays closer was warming late in Tuesday's game, but the Jays added a few insurance runs to sit him down. The extra scores allowed Romano to watch from the outfield bullpen as Bo Bichette turned a double play in the ninth, sealing Toronto's 5-1 victory and handing starter Kevin Gausman a win in his latest gem.

Here are three takeaways from the Blue Jays win over the Astros:

Gausman Dominates, Again

As Mauricio Dubon circled the bases, Gausman reset.

After the Astros leadoff man rocked an opening homer off the second pitch of the night, the Blue Jays ace adjusted the brim of his cap, cleaned off his cleats, and stepped back to the rubber.

Facing the heart of Houston's lineup, Gausman put the leadoff homer behind him with three straight strikeouts. He ended the inning with a careening splitter in on the hands of Alex Bregman, getting the two-time World Series champ slashing over the pitch.

"It's workman like, its professional," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Gausman. "He's one of the best pitchers in the game."

With the leadoff knock in the rearview, Gausman went full workhorse for the rest of his outing. The splitter-chucker earned 17 whiffs, 13 strikeouts, and pitched seven scoreless innings after the opening homer. In his last three outings, Gausman's allowed just two total runs. On the season, he's reached double-digit strikeouts six times, the most in MLB.

"I think he's evolved a little bit this year," Schneider said. "Kind of taken that next step forward into pretty much elite category."

Kevin Gausman tied a career-high 13 strikeouts tonight, allowing 1 run through 7 innings 👀👏

(via @PitchingNinja)pic.twitter.com/dfrkQQZET9

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 7, 2023

Home Runs Power Toronto

George Springer leaned back in his stance and unleashed on a misplaced fastball. Off the bat, he knew. Springer straightened in the box, admiring the long stroke, before bouncing into his home-run trot.

An inning later, Daulton Varsho lashed a dong of his own off the top of the outfield wall, bouncing over the fence for Toronto's second slam of the night. For insurance in the eighth, Bo Bichette added a homer of his own. The Jays had just five hits on the night, but when three of them are homers (and Gausman shoves) it's enough.

"Up against a pitcher like [Hunter Brown], who's got pretty good stuff throughout his outing, you kind of got to clip a couple there. So big at-bats from George, Varsh, and the add-on runs from Bo and Whit at the end."

While Toronto has been overall strong offensively this year, ranking out as the sixth-best squad by team OPS, the homers haven't always been there. Toronto's 72 home runs entering Tuesday's game ranked sixth in the AL. But, Tuesday's game represented the third-consecutive contest where the Jays hit two or more homers.

"We're able to play small ball and we're also able to play the long ball," Varsho said. "So obviously when a lot of guys can do that, we're gonna score a lot runs."

Manoah Sent Down

Prior to Tuesday's game, the Blue Jays optioned starter Alek Manoah to the team's Development Complex team in Dunedin, Florida. After lasting just one out on Monday, Manoah's ERA grew to 6.36 with a league-leading 42 walks.

The team sent Manoah down to "make sure that everything is where it should be and from a delivery standpoint, mindset standpoint." Read more on why Toronto optioned the Opening Day starter and what the next steps for Manoah are.