*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Early offense usually leads to good things. Kyle Tucker homered, Corey Julks added a grand slam, and the Houston Astros routed the Toronto Blue Jays with a 11-4 victory on Monday evening in Toronto.
The Astros hung 6 runs on the Blue Jays in the first inning on their way to a rout on Monday, winning their 7th game in their last 10. Julks led the way with 4 RBI's, with Yainer Diaz and Jake Meyers each having four hit games at the bottom of the order, with Meyers driving in two runs.
Houston manager Dusty Baker said of the bottom of the lineup that "You always want those guys to do well, the young guys, because you're depending upon the big boys in the middle. Any time you get that kind of production you get out of those guys, hitting is contagious, for sure. You want them to get a hit every time or as many hits as they can get because you never know about tomorrow."
Yordan Alvarez started the scoring in the first with an RBI single, making it 1-0 as Mauricio Dubon scored. Tucker then added an RBI single of his own to make it 2-0. Julks then opened up the game with his first MLB grand slam. Alejandro Kirk hit a solo homer in the second inning to get Toronto on the board and make it 6-1. Alvarez and Tucker then hit solo home runs in the 4th inning to make it 8-1.
Meyers added a two run home run in the top of the 5th to make it a 10-1 game, with Bo Bichette cutting it to 10-2 in the bottom half with an RBI single. Vladimir Guerrero Jr added an RBI double in the 7th to make the score 10-3. Alex Bregman singled in a run in the top of the 8th to make it 11-3 before Daulton Varsho hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, making the score 11-4.
Julks talked about his grand slam, saying that "Knowing the bases were loaded and he didn’t have anywhere to put me, I was trying to be aggressive and see a good pitch to hit and make a good swing and see what happens."
Brandon Bielak got the start for the Astros, allowing 3 runs on 10 hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings, getting the win. Seth Martinez pitched 1 1/3 innings, allowing one run. Ryne Stanek closed the game with a scoreless 9th inning.
Alek Manoah started for the Blue Jays, allowing 6 runs while only getting one out. Jay Jackson handled the next 2 2/3 innings before Trevor Richards and Anthony Bass both allowed two runs in one inning each. Yimi Garcia pitched one inning, Adam Cimber pitched 1 2/3 innings, and Tim Mayza threw 1 1/3 innings.
Toronto manager John Schneider said of Manoah's outlook that "As of now, we’re not sitting here making plans for anything, but doing everything we can do for him means using every resource that we have, using the staff and using his teammates to help him through it. When I say that everything is on the table, yeah, everything is. We’re just trying to help him get back to the caliber of pitcher that he was."
Up next, the series continues on Tuesday night in Toronto. Hunter Brown gets the start for the Astros, opposed by Kevin Gausman for the Blue Jays.
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