TORONTO — Myles Straw's seventh-inning sacrifice fly drove home the go-ahead run, Alejandro Kirk padded the score with one of his own in the eighth, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros 4-2 on Monday.
Straw came on to pinch hit for Jesus Sanchez with runners on second and third, driving in Daulton Varsho to go up 3-2. Kirk had the bases loaded with one out when his sac fly to left field brought George Springer home.
Dylan Cease had an up-and-down start, giving up three hits, two runs and four walks while striking out eight batters across 5 2/3 innings for Toronto (39-39). Braydon Fisher (3-2) and Tyler Rogers pitched in relief, with Louis Varland earning his 16th save.
Kazuma Okamoto had a solo home run and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a sac fly RBI as the Blue Jays won for the fifth time in six games.
Hunter Brown pitched just three innings, giving up four hits, one run, two walks and striking out four for Houston (37-43). He stayed in the game for some time after taking a comebacker from Springer off his lower back before exiting the game.
AJ Blubaugh, Enyel De Los Santos (0-2), Bryan King and Logan VanWey pitched in relief of Brown.
TAKEAWAYS
Blue Jays: Cease had a first inning to forget, getting out of a bases-loaded jam thanks to a double play to close the frame. He gave up two walks and two singles through four of the first five batters he faced. Yanier Diaz grounding out into a double with runners on every base allowed Cease and the Blue Jays to settle down and not sink into a troubling early deficit.
Astros: Houston struggled to gain any momentum with a 1-0 lead after Diaz's groundout in the opening inning. The Astros saw seven of the Blue Jays' nine hitters earn a hit on the night with Springer, Guerrero and Okamoto each having two.
KEY MOMENT
With the game tied 2-2 in the seventh inning, Straw's sac fly to left field brought home Varsho for the go-ahead run.
KEY STAT
Entering Monday's game, Okamoto had 16 home runs and was tied with Bo Bichette for the most through a player's first 75 MLB games in franchise history.
UP NEXT
Right-hander Shane Bieber will make his season debut for the Blue Jays, while the Astros will send fellow righty Peter Lambert (6-4, 3.23 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2026.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
