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The Blue Jays and Astros will continue their four-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, which has never been kind to Toronto.
The Blue Jays entered Tuesday with a 2-13 record at Houston's home ballpark, though they improved that with Tuesday night's 2-1 victory. Toronto had lost eight consecutive games at the stadium, and although the club does have a 12-17 all-time record vs. the Astros, nine of those wins have come north of the border.
Right-hander Marco Estrada will be looking to further reverse the trend when he takes the mound. Estrada has been battling a sore back for the last month; he did spend some time on the 15-day disabled list, but he continues to pitch through the discomfort.
"Obviously, that back thing is still there," Estrada said after allowing three earned runs during his last start, vs. Baltimore. "It's lingering, and I don't feel 100 percent yet, but I feel like I can still give the team some innings, some quality innings. Early on, it's tough, but once I loosened up later in the game, I was able to pitch a little better. Just have to find a way to get my back loose early on."
Houston will counter with right-hander Collin McHugh, who allowed eight runs on 10 hits over just 1 2/3 innings during his most recent outing, vs. the Tigers. Prior to that he allowed a total of eight runs over his previous four starts.
"They didn't really let me up for air," McHugh said after that start. "We made good pitches sometimes, and they found ways to get the bat to it -- and every mediocre, borderline pitch we made, they made us pay for it. Obviously, it's not the way I envisioned this start to go."
In honor of this year's 18 Deadline deals, fans can watch out-of-market games with MLB.TV Premium for the rest of the season for just $17.99.
Three things to know about this game:
• Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is considered questionable. He missed the first two games of the series after sustaining a chip fracture in his right thumb during Sunday's game against the Orioles. He may return to the lineup either Wednesday or Thursday in Houston.
• The Astros announced on Tuesday afternoon that right-hander Ken Giles has been named the club's new closer. Giles has not allowed an earned run since June 18. He notched two or more strikeouts in nine of his last 10 setup appearances and held opposing batters to a .130 batting average in his last 14 games.
• Toronto is expected to make at least one more roster move prior to Wednesday's game. Left-hander Francisco Liriano is expected to report to his new team after being acquired prior to Monday's non-waiver Trade Deadline. When he is added to the 25-man roster, either Mike Bolsinger or Danny Barnes likely will be optioned to Triple-A Buffalo.
Batter Stats; Past 30 Days
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Pitcher Stats; Past 30 Days
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LETS GO BLUE JAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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