Analysis | Chris Bassitt makes Astros hitters look lost in Jays win

Here’s what you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 3-2 win over the Houston Astros at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday night:

Bassitt master class

Jays starter Chris Bassitt, who welcomed his second child on the weekend, absolutely carved up the World Series champions. The 34-year-old right-hander needed only 50 pitches to get through six innings, and wound up throwing 81 over eight frames in picking up his team-leading seventh win of the season.

Bassitt made just one mistake: an 0-and-1 slider up to Yordan Álvarez, which the Astros DH hit out to right field for a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Other than that, Houston managed just three hits off Bassitt, two on ground balls off the pitcher’s glove. They drew no walks and went 0-for-0 with runners in scoring position. It was an absolute master class.

Bichette, Belt blast off

The Jays hit multiple home runs for the fourth straight game. This time Bo Bichette and Brandon Belt went deep, both solo shots.

Bichette’s team-leading 14th of the season came leading off the bottom of the fourth and was the Jays’ first hit off Houston rookie starter Ronel Blanco. Belt’s came with two out in the sixth, a no-doubt drive to right field that tied the game.

The biggest swing of the night, though, was Alejandro Kirk’s pinch-hit single up the middle in the seventh that drove in the eventual winning run.

Houston time zone

The Astros had a rough time with the new pitch clock and got dinged on both sides of the ball.

Bassitt’s first strikeout came in the second inning, when Jose Abreu wasn’t “alert to the pitcher” as the clock reached eight seconds. An automatic strike was called and since the count was full, Abreu was out — a strikeout not looking.

Daulton Varsho was at the plate with a full count leading off the seventh when Houston reliever Hector Neris let the clock expire before starting his delivery. Automatic ball. Varsho got on with a sleep walk and came around to score on Kirk’s single.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness

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