Game Recap: Blue Jays drop 5 bombs. Send Astros back to Earth 12-0 on strong pitching by Trent Thornton

Lourdes Gurriel Sr. throws out the first pitch on Father’s Day

Trent Thornton, drafted in 2015 by the Houston Astros, fulfilled his dream to pitch in Minute Maid Park today. But he was not wearing an Astros uniform, and maybe it was sweet revenge that was spinning his heater just a touch faster, or making the slider break just a tad sharper. Before the game Thornton remarked that pitching against the team that traded him last November gave him some extra motivation, that he wanted to prove to the Astros that they had under-valued him.

Well, if Thornton was trying to make a point, point taken. Against a team that had scored 22 runs in the previous two games, Thornton threw 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and whiffing seven Astros hitters. His relief, Justin Shafer and Joe Biagini, combined with Thornton for a shut out of the Astros offense, including an 0-4 performance from rookie phenom Yordan Alvarez, with two strikeouts.

Here’s Thornton making mince meat out of the Astros lineup.

Meanwhile Astros pitching was far from stellar. Brad Peacock started the game allowing a triple off the top of the fence to Eric Sogard, a sac fly to the warning track to Lourdes Gurriel, and then a monster oppo taco homer to left field about where Alvarez hit his first one to Rowdy Tellez.

Peacock settled down until the fifth inning when the younger Gurriel hit a two run homer to give the Jays a 4-0 lead.

In the sixth inning Cionel Perez, hero of the eleven inning victory over the Orioles on June 7th, gave up seven runs in three innings, all in the sixth inning mostly on the strength of two three run homers, one to Freddy Galvis, and another to former Astro, Teoscar Hernandez.

Cionel pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings, yielding to Tyler White in the ninth. White surrendered another run, on another home run by Teoscar Hernandez, completing the day’s scoring.

Here’s Hernandez’ home run off White

Tyler White fun facts:

1. The Astros have lost every one of the five games in his career in which Tyler White has pitched
2. Tyler White has allowed the same number of home runs (2) that he has hit in 2019.
3. Tyler White’s ERA, 6.75, is almost half that of Cionel Perez, 11.25.
4. Tyler White has three pitches, the 60 MPH change up, the 70 MPH change up, and the 80 MPH change up. His mound motto is “keep em guessing.”

Box Score and videos HERE

Tomorrow the Astros travel to Cincinnati. Wade Miley (6-3, 3.14 ERA) faces the Reds’ ace, Luis Castillo (6-1, 2.20 ERA) .

Game time 6:10 CDT