Blue Jays 7, Astros 5
Jose Bautista hit a pair of home runs to increase his major-league lead as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat the visiting Houston Astros 7-5 Saturday afternoon.
Bautista, who came into the game on a 1-for-9 mini-slump, belted an offering from Brett Myers (1-4) into the left-field seats with two men on in the sixth inning to turn a 4-0 deficit into a one-run game. After Toronto (23-22) seized the lead with three runs in the seventh, Bautista greeted reliever Jose Valdez with another shot to left, giving him 18 homers on the season.
Bautista, who had a major league-best 54 home runs in 2010, finished 3-for-4 to increase his average to .364. It was his third multi-homer game of the season.
Yunel Escobar also went deep for Toronto while Casey Janssen (1-0) tossed a scoreless inning to earn the win. Octavio Dotel retired the final two Houston hitters in the ninth for his first save as a Blue Jay.
Toronto starter Brandon Morrow allowed four runs on nine hits over six innings, walking three and striking out six. Myers surrendered six runs on eight hits over 6 2/3 frames for the Astros (16-30), who lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Chris Johnson drove in three runs to lead Houston. The third-year infielder has nine RBIs over his last seven outings.