Hunter Brown shut out the Blue Jays for six innings and the Houston Astros cruised to a 3-1 victory in Toronto on Monday.
Brown allowed only two singles, striking out five batters. He gave up three walks.
Brown (6-5) was outstanding in June, going 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA.
“It couldn’t happen to a better guy,” said Jeremy Pena, who provided one of the game-winning home runs. “He prepares very well for his starts.”
Pena and Yordan Alavarez homered for the Astros, who have won their last three games.
Houston has lost just once in 11 games.
It was the second year in a row the Blue Jays lost on Canada Day.
Toronto had the bases loaded against Bryan Abreu in the eighth, but he got away when Daulton Varsho grounded out.
“You can have Bryan on the ropes, but he’s going to find a way to get out of it,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “His repertoire is really explosive.”
Josh Hader allowed a home run to Ernie Clement, sealing his 13th save in 14 chances.
The Blue Jays were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
“We just ran out of hits,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Vladimir Guerrero was sidelined due to right hand pain.
On Sunday, he was hit in the fingers by a 96-mile-per-hour rapid-fire from Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees.
Yariel Rodriguez retired the first 14 batters before Pena hit his sixth home run of the season in the fifth.
Rodriguez (0-3) pitched six and two-thirds innings, allowing one run and two hits.
Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the ninth against Zach Pop. He had a 17e circuit this season.
