Blue Jays 3, Astros 1: Astros bats stay dormant against Blue Jays

The Houston Astros have dropped seven of their last nine games for the second in 2016. The previous time was in April. Yes, that April. The Astros have once again found a season low with a 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

The Astros are batting .174 with six runs scored and 52 strikeouts in the team's last five games.

The pitcher that dominated the lifeless Astros offense on Wednesday was Marco Estrada. Estrada only had two deal with two major offensive chances for the Astros over seven innings.

George Springer doubled to open the home half of the first inning but was stranded. The Astros life-support offense showed it’s blip of life in the sixth inning with back-to-back doubles from Marwin Gonzalez and Jose Altuve to drive in one run.

The Blue Jays offense, on the other hand, did Blue Jays things. Josh Donaldson hit two home runs and Jose Bautista hit his second in as many days.

The Astros trailed 3-1 entering the eighth inning.

Jake Marisnick doubled to lead off the bottom of the frame. George Springer followed with a grounder to shortstop. Darwin Barney threw behind Marisnick who was attempting to go back to the bag at second.

Second baseman Devon Travis could have tagged out Marisnick but he dropped the ball -- both Astros runners were safe. Marwin Gonzalez bunted both runners over. Jose Altuve flew out to right on the first pitch. Carlos Correa struck out on three pitches to end the inning.

Correa wasn’t happy with the strike-three call from Bill Miller, the pitch appeared close but clearly low. But the outcome didn’t change with the argument. The Astros went down in order to end the game in the ninth.

James Hoyt made his major league debut, striking out two over one inning. Astros starter Collin McHugh gave up three runs over six innings on six hits while striking out 10.