TORONTO - Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-2 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon.
The victory moves the Blue Jays a season-high 16 games above .500. Toronto (67-51) has now won five of their last six series, going 12-7 in that stretch. The Astros (61-57) have dropped consecutive games after winning four straight on the road.
Tulowitzki put Mike Fiers' fastball into the second deck at Rogers Centre for a two-run home run giving the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead. Martin followed it up by taking Fiers' first pitch yard for his 10th homer of the season - it marks the seventh time this season the Blue Jays have hit back-to-back home runs.
Martin's long ball knocked Fiers (8-6) from the game. The Astros starter went 4 2/3 innings allowing five earned runs on seven hits while striking out seven.
Marcus Stroman (9-5) tossed six innings of one-run ball before allowing a solo shot to Jason Castro to lead off the seventh. The 25-year-old right-hander went 6 1/3 innings allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out eight in the win.
Martin showed off his defensive game in the seventh, leaning into the Astros dugout to grab an Alex Bregman foul ball for the second out of the inning.
