Javier shaky, 'Stros drop middle game to Jays

Photo courtesy of Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Cristian Javier, who had thus far in the season been so fantastic on the mound, finally proved he was human on Saturday night, taking his first loss of the season in an 8-4 loss at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Javier -- previously without a loss in his previous seven decisions -- had trouble settling in early against an aggressive Blue Jays lineup. Cavan Biggio, son of Astros' legend Craig Biggio, tagged Javier early in the second inning with a two-run home run to right field.

Danny Jansen continued his torrid hitting streak by mashing his third straight homer in as many games with another solo shot in the third. A two-run double courtesy of Randal Grichuk put the Astros in a 5-0 hole after three.

The Astros wouldn't break through until the fourth, on a Yordan Alvarez home run that plated their first run of the game.

It was Alvarez again who helped the Astros cut into the deficit again in the bottom of the fifth inning, coming up with a clutch two-run single that scored Aledmys Díaz and Alex Bregman.

Houston managed to cut the lead all the way down to one heading into the top of the ninth inning, before the bullpen stumbled. Brooks Raley, who came into the game with an ERA over nine, walked Cavan Biggio before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. reached on a throwing error. Raley would get Santiago Espinal to ground out before leaving with runners on second and third with one out.

With Joe Smith tasked with keeping the game manageable, he instead blew it open for the Jays. After getting Danny Jansen to strike out for the second out, he left a pitch up to Marcus Semien, who crushed it for a home run to put Toronto up 8-4.

The Astros would go down in order to finish the game. After managing three runs off Jays' starter Steven Matz, the Astros could only scrape across one run off of Toronto's bullpen.

Houston dropped to 17-16 with the loss. Cristian Javier, who had been so brilliant to begin the season, earned his first loss of the season. His five earned runs were a career worst.

The Astros will attempt to win the rubber match with Zack Greinke on the mound tomorrow for Mother's Day. He'll face off with young right-hander Nate Pearson, who will be making his first start of the season. First pitch is scheduled for 1 PM CT.