Major League Baseball
Houston 12, Toronto 2
When: 7:07 PM ET, Friday, July 7, 2017
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Dana DeMuth, 1B - Paul Nauert, 2B - Carlos Torres, 3B - John Libka
Attendance: 37332

TORONTO -- Starting pitchers Charlie Morton and Aaron Sanchez shared similar situations when they opposed each other Friday night.

Both had been on the disabled list since May. The similarity ended there, however, because Morton was on and Sanchez was not.

The Houston Astros gave Morton ample support, led by George Springer's two home runs and five RBIs, which matched his career best, in a 12-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Springer's four hits included a three-run homer and a solo blast. He became the first leadoff hitter to hit 27 home runs before the All-Star break in major league history.

"He can wow you even when you're around him every day," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "What a great tone-setter. He's a difference maker. Getting him the most at-bats is pretty awesome. He's using the middle of the field and the opposite field. No park can hold him right now."

Springer said, "We've all hit the ball hard the last four or five games. You've got to have a plan. Develop a plan and approach, then adjust from there depending on what he's doing. He (Sanchez) has got good stuff over there, a lot of those guys do."

Morton, meanwhile, allowed one run in six innings

Sanchez allowed eight runs (five earned) in 1 2/3 innings.

Carlos Correa added a two-run homer and Evan Gattis had a solo shot for the Astros (59-28), who have split in the first two games of the four-game series.

Troy Tulowitzki and Ezequiel Carrera homered for Toronto (40-46).

Morton (6-3), starting for the first time since May 24 because of a right lat strain, allowed four hits and two walks.

"For the offense to come through like that early, it's great because it gives me a chance to just go out there and compete," Morton said. "A little less stress, a little less worry. We were going in on righties, that was the most we've been doing that all year. It seems like it was working ... getting those ground balls."

Sanchez (0-2) allowed seven hits and four walks in his first start since May 19. He had been on the disabled list with a blister and split nail on his right middle finger.

"If he could have thrown that curveball over a little bit more that would have helped, but that will come," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "But he looks strong and they're swinging. If you make a mistake, they're hitting it. I don't think the line was as bad as it looked because I thought he was close."

Gattis started the seventh with his seventh homer of the season. Springer homered with two outs in the seventh.

James Hoyt replaced Morton and had a perfect bottom of the seventh and Tony Sipp had a perfect eighth.

In the eighth, Toronto's Jeff Beliveau replaced Mike Bolsinger, who allowed six hits and four runs while striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings of relief.

Beliveau allowed one hit in two innings.

Francis Martes pitched the ninth for the Astros and gave up the sixth homer of the season by Carrera, who replaced Jose Bautista in right field in the seventh.

Sanchez allowed two runs in the first inning when Correa hit his 18th home run of the season after Springer and Jose Altuve led off with singles and Josh Reddick grounded into a double play.

The Astros added six runs in the second.

Springer's 26th homer of the season followed walks to Gattis and Norichika Aoki to bump the lead to 5-0.

An error by Tulowitzki at short on his flip to second base on Correa's potential double-play grounder loaded the bases for Houston.

Marwin Gonzalez had an RBI groundout to second, Carlos Beltran chopped an RBI infield single to second and Gattis hit an RBI double. Bolsinger replaced Sanchez.

"I felt great," Sanchez said. "I think the best part about tonight is that I didn't think about my finger once. I went out there, I was aggressive, I felt like I was who I was before all this stuff happened. l think that's s a plus."

A double by Springer and an infield single by Altuve set up an RBI single by Reddick for a 9-0 Houston lead in the third.

Alex Bregman led off the fifth with a double and scored from third on Springer's sacrifice fly.

"I understand who's up behind me," Springer said. "If I can get to first for guys like Altuve, Correa, Beltran, I understand that there's a good chance I'm going to score. If I can spark us, great. If not, I know who's up behind me."

NOTES: Toronto RHP Roberto Osuna was added to the American League All-Star team. The 22-year-old is the youngest Blue Jays to go to the game. ... Astros RHP Dayan Diaz was optioned to Triple-A Fresno to make room for RHP Charlie Morton, who was reinstated from the disabled list (right lat strain) to start. ... Blue Jays RHP Dominic Leone was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo after RHP Aaron Sanchez was activated from the DL (right middle finger) to start the game. ... Houston RHP Mike Fiers (5-3, 3.80 ERA) will oppose Toronto RHP Marcus Stroman (8-5. 3.42) Saturday in the third game of the series.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Houston   Toronto
Charlie Morton Player Aaron Sanchez
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 1.2
3 Strikeouts 0
4 Hits 7
1.50 ERA 27.00
Hitting
Houston   Toronto
George Springer Player Troy Tulowitzki
4 Hits 2
5 RBI 1
2 HR 1
11 TB 5
1.000 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Houston 14 4 30 .359 18 9 12 5 1 0
Toronto 6 2 12 .200 7 8 2 2 0 1