Josh Hader stumbled in his debut with his new team, falling to 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA. Davis Schneider’s two-run homer off the star closer with two outs in the ninth inning propelled the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
It wasn’t the start Houston had envisioned after signing him to a $95 million, five-year contract. “That’s not what I want to do, go out there and make mistakes and the one mistake I made, I paid for it. So, it sucks,” Hader said.
A day after Ronel Blanco threw the first no-hitter of the season in Houston’s 10-0 triumph, Toronto saw its scoreless streak extend to 19 innings. The Blue Jays were down 1-0 entering the ninth.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to start the inning, but Bo Bichette grounded into a double play. Hader walked Justin Turner, setting up Schneider.
Schneider’s towering shot flew to center field, giving the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead and sparking a celebration in the Toronto dugout.
“He made that one mistake there,” manager Joe Espada said. “I think he hung that slider but everything else looked pretty good.” Hader stayed crouched as Schneider rounded the bases. “Trying to get it below,” Hader said. “Hung it middle, middle.”
A five-time All-Star, Hader joined the Astros after spending the last two seasons in San Diego. Two days earlier, Hader had surrendered a tiebreaking single to Juan Soto in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees. Framber Valdez had thrown 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball before the game went to the bullpen.
“No one wants to give up two runs, especially when you got Framber doing what he’s done, going as long as he did,” Hader said. “Unbelievable start and just not being able to give him that win, it’s unfortunate.” Hader felt good about his execution on his other 20 pitches. “It comes down to that one pitch,” he said.
