Kirk goes deep as Blue Jays snap Astros’ 6-game streak in 3-1 win

There were two on with two outs in the sixth when an RBI single by Peña cut the lead to 3-1 and chased Bieber.

Braydon Fisher took over and the Blue Jays intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez to give him a major league-leading 23 intentional walks this season and load the bases. But Fisher retired Isaac Paredes on a fly out to end the inning.

The Astros had another chance to cut the deficit with two outs in the eighth, but Brendon Little struck out Alvarez with a runner on first.

Centre-fielder Daulton Varsho made his Astros debut just hours after being traded from the Blue Jays for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti. Varsho singled and walked while batting cleanup for a team that has struggled to get meaningful offensive contributions from its outfielders for most of the season.

Houston starter Cristian Javier (1-2) yielded seven hits and three runs in six innings.

Struggling right-hander Tatsuya Imai made his first career relief appearance in the majors after making 15 starts for the Astros and struck out five in three hitless innings.

Kirk gave Toronto an early lead with his home run to open the second inning.

Kazuma Okamoto and George Springer hit consecutive singles to begin the fourth before Okamoto scored on a one-out single by Sánchez that made it 2-0. Clement’s sacrifice fly sent Springer home to push the lead to 3-0.

UP NEXT

Toronto RHP Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.73 ERA) opposes RHP Hayden Wesneski (1-0, 4.76) when the series continues Tuesday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Kirk goes deep as Blue Jays snap Astros’ 6-game streak in 3-1 win

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