Torontor17;s Randal Grichuk put on a show for hundreds of friends and family that made the trek up to Houston to see him play just his third career game at a ballpark only about 35 miles from his hometown of Rosenberg Youth John Franklin-Myers Jersey , Texas.
Grichuk hit a two-run homer and made a huge defensive play, helping the Blue Jays beat the Houston Astros 6-3 on Monday.
r1;You canr17;t feel your body all game,r1; Grichuk said. r1;You feel like you donr17;t need to stretch or get loose. Itr17;s just as special for me as I know it is for my family.r1;
Toronto also got two homers from Curtis Granderson against Justin Verlander, but the night belonged to Grichuk in one special homecoming.
His soaring 471-foot home run, which clanged off the light pole above the train tracks on the left-field wall, came against Will Harris and made it 6-3 with two out in the eighth.
Grichuk then reached over the short wall in right field to rob George Springer of a homer with two on and no outs in the ninth.
r1;Those are the plays you dream of that you donr17;t really get too often,r1; he said. r1;But exactly what you hope for happened.r1;
Grichuk, who moved from center to right field in the bottom of the ninth Customized Oakland Raiders Jerseys , had his back to the wall when he reached between two fans with gloves to make the grab.
Springer stopped running and bent down in disbelief when he realized Grichuk had robbed him.
r1;Baseball can be pretty cruel,r1; Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. r1;Thatr17;s a tough one. Right off the bat, I thought George got one. It carried and carried and carried and looked like he had to go pretty deep into the stands to get it.r1;
Grandersonr17;s leadoff shot in the fifth tied it at 3. He connected again with two out in the seventh, belting an opposite-field drive off Verlander (9-3) into the second row in the Crawford Boxes in left field.
r1;Ir17;m not a huge fan of the Crawford Boxes right now,r1; Verlander said. r1;The one to right, I thought Curtis got pretty good. The one to left, I didnr17;t think he got that one very good. But itr17;s the ballpark we play in. Itr17;s fair for all sides. I need to do a little bit better job.r1;
Verlander, who entered with a major league-best 1.60 ERA Customized Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys , allowed four runs and seven hits r11; both season highs r11; in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked two in his first loss since May 11.
Torontor17;s J.A. Happ (10-3) yielded three runs and seven hits in six innings in his sixth straight win. Seung-hwan Oh worked the ninth for his second save.
Former Astro Teoscar Hernandez, who received his World Series ring in a pregame ceremony, had three hits and Justin Smoak drove in two runs as the Blue Jays won their third straight.
Alex Bregman homered in the Astrosr17; third loss in 18 games.
Hernandez singled with one out in the first before Yangervis Solarte drew a walk. Smoakr17;s two-out double lifted Toronto to a 2-0 lead.
Yuli Gurriel singled in Jose Altuve in the bottom half, and Bregmanr17;s drive to the seats in left tied it at 2 with one out in the third.
Bregman also singled in Jake Marisnick in the fourth, but the Blue Jays tied it up again when Granderson sent the third pitch of the fifth inning into the stands in right for his eighth homer this season.
TRAINERr17;S ROOM
Astros: RHP Joe Smith (right elbow inflammation) felt good after throwing a bullpen on Sunday and will throw one more bullpen before likely beginning a rehabilitation assignment this weekend.
Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (bruised finger on right hand) has less swelling and discomfort and will start playing catch in the next few days.
WHERE DID IT GO?
Granderson hit a foul pop in the first inning that got stuck in the parkr17;s rafters. Catcher Max Stassi threw off his mask and looked up as he waited for it to come down, but it never did. Bregman soon trotted to the plate and started looking up to see where it was, too. Verlander held his glove over the top of his head for a few seconds, jokingly protecting himself if it happened to drop near him. Granderson and the trio of Astros then laughed Customized Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys , and Granderson got back in the box to resume his at-bat.
r1;I still have no idea what happened on that,r1; Granderson said. r1;Ir17;ve never hit a ball that high before.r1;
UP NEXT
Charlie Morton (9-1, 2.77 ERA) pitches for Houston on Tuesday, looking for his 10th win. Morton allowed just two hits and one unearned run in six innings of a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay in his last outing. The Blue Jays have yet to announce their Tuesday starter.
r12;
As expected, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski remained in the concussion protocol Wednesday for New Englandr17;s first Super Bowl practice in Minnesota.
According to a pool report of the workout, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Gronkowski took part in non-contact drills and is r1;working his way back.r1; The Patriots worked out for two hours in their only full-padded practice of the week leading up to Sundayr17;s matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Also limited were defensive linemen Deatrich Wise (concussion) and cornerback Malcolm Butler (illness).
Quarterback Tom Brady practiced fully, wearing black tape on his injured right hand.
Gronkowski has been in the leaguer17;s concussion protocol after taking a hit in the AFC championship game.
Gronkowski said at a promotional appearance for the r1;Madden 18r1; video game Tuesday night that he would leave his game status up to team doctors.
