Chris Bassitt tosses gem as Blue Jays combine pitching and defence to subdue Astros

Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Toronto on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.

As Alek Manoah begins to rebuild his career with the hope of one day rejoining the Blue Jays, Toronto’s pitching fate rests in the hands of Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt.

A rotation can’t be defined by simply having two capable arms, but both Gausman and Bassitt continue to take their game to a different level.

And when each is on the mound, the Blue Jays are never out of any game.

In the second game of a four-game series versus visiting Houston, Gausman stepped up (on the same day Manoah was demoted.)

On Wednesday, it was Bassitt’s turn as the Blue Jays turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win.

He was good, but the Astros’ pitching was also good, lending to a game featuring home runs and high drama.

Yordan Alvarez delivered the first blow when he took Bassitt deep for a two-run blast.

Toronto responded by delivering solo belts off the bat of Bo Bichette and Brandon Belt.

Defensively, Bichette, much-maligned for his glove and throwing accuracy, was as good as it gets at shortstop.

With the margin for error growing thinner as the evening unfolded, every base runner became more meaningful.

When Daulton Varsho drew a leadoff walk in the home half of the seventh, one had an inkling the Jays were poised to take the lead.

That moment arrived when Alejandro Kirk, summoned off the bench to pinch hit, delivered a sharp liner into centre that scored Varsho.

The story on this night, like it was the previous night, could be found on the mound.

Gausman and Bassitt go about their business in different ways, but each is good.

When the Jays are playing defence like they did Wednesday and producing timely hits at the plate, all of a sudden they become a very good team.

Roughly six hours prior to opening pitch, the Blue Jays announced the roof at Rogers Centre would remain closed due to poor air quality, a move that took no one by surprise given the outcry among some fans who voiced their displeasure on social media one night earlier.

Despite Gausman’s elite pitching in leading the team to a win over Houston in the series opener, a number of fans were quick to call out the Rogers Centre for leaving the dome open and exposing the crowd to air quality described by Environment and Climate Change Canada as posing “significant threat to life or property” in the wake of forest fires raging in Quebec and northeastern Ontario.

Others didn’t seem to mind and were taken aback when the lid was closed for the second game in the four-game series.

At 7:08 p.m., Bassitt delivered the game’s first pitch.

A few seconds later, the game featured its first base runner when Maurice Dubon stroked a sharply hit ball just inside the bag at first base for a single.

HEY, HEY JOSE

In his first game of the season against the Blue Jays, Jose Altuve was greeted to a chorus of boos by the locals in his first at-bat.

The pint-sized star who wields a prodigious bat missed Houston’s previous four games when he suffered an oblique injury.

When the season began, Altuve wasn’t in the lineup following a hand injury he suffered during the World Baseball Classic.

He made his return on May 19.

In Altuve’s first 11 games, the Astros went 9-2.

Back in his familiar No. 2 hole in the lineup, Altuve hit into a double play following a hard-hit liner up the middle.

With Dubon running, Whit Merrifield, who started at second, went to his right to ostensibly receive the throw from catcher Tyler Heineman.

Merrifield took one step before catching the Altuve liner and then made the routine throw over to first base to complete the double play.

In terms of defensive alignment, the Jays were spot on.

Speaking of defence, Altuve was clinical when accepting the throw at second and throwing over to first to record an inning-ending double play in the home half of the fifth.

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TOE-TO-TOE

Matt Chapman returned to the lineup after enduring an extreme toenail clipping.

He couldn’t play during the team’s 5-1 win Tuesday after Chapman developed an infected ingrown toenail that was removed Monday.

After testing the toe during a pre-game workout without incident, Chapman was given the green light to return to baseball’s hot corner.

With Chapman back in action, Santiago Espinal was back on the bench.

Chapman struck out in his first at-bat and then drew a walk.

His defensive prowess was on full display when Yainer Diaz led off the fifth inning by stroking a hard-hit ball toward the bag at third.

Chapman quickly moved to his right and as his momentum forced him to go into foul territory he threw a rocket to first, making a very difficult play look rather routine.

DANDY DANNY

Barring some kind of setback, it appears Danny Jansen should begin his triple-A rehab assignment this weekend.

Assuming Jansen progresses well, there’s a pretty good chance he’ll be in a position to rejoin the big-league club in Baltimore, perhaps as early as next Tuesday when the Jays and Orioles begin a three-game series.

The Blue Jays have an off day Monday.

Jansen recently suffered a left groin strain while running to first base against Tampa Bay that landed the catcher on the injured list.

Prior to Wednesday’s game, Jays manager John Schneider said Jansen ran the bases well, an encouraging sign as Jansen makes his way back to the team.

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