The heat and humidity got to veteran righthander Adrian Houser on a stifling Wednesday afternoon at Rate Field, but the red-hot Blue Jays did not.
The White Sox’ top trade chip vomited in the dugout after escaping a first-inning jam, only to settle in for six more innings of bend-but-don’t-break ball that improved his record to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to a dazzling 1.56.
“Puke and rally,” Houser laughed in the clubhouse after the Sox’ 2-1 win. “Once I get it out, it’s all good. Ready to rock and roll.”
The midseason signing has sparkled in nine starts, the latest one ending Toronto’s 10-game winning streak with the help of rookie catcher Edgar Quero, who went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, and second baseman Lenyn Sosa, who added an RBI single.
First baseman Tim Elko — called up Wednesday after utility player Brooks Baldwin was placed on the injured list — struggled at the plate in his third taste of the majors, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.
But he flashed some leather, nabbing a hard liner off the bat of Jays’ second baseman Leo Jiménez and doubling Myles Straw off second base to help Houser escape a bumpy second inning with only one run surrendered. Elko turned a double play to get Houser out of a sixth-inning jam, too.
Rookie flame-thrower Grant Taylor shut down the heart of the Jays’ potent offense in the eighth inning, and reliever Jordan Leasure sealed his second save of the season.
Not Teeling it
The injury to Baldwin, the team’s emergency catcher, means fans likely won’t be seeing Quero and fellow prized rookie backstop Kyle Teel in the lineup together anytime soon.
That’s only happened five times since Teel, the Sox’ No. 2 ranked prospect, joined Quero on the big-league squad with his call-up last month. Manager Will Venable said he’ll usually keep them separated to avoid getting caught in a roster pickle.
“It’s much easier to have one of them on the bench. You do get into some binds if you DH one of them, but that’s something that we’re open and willing to do if the time is right,” he said. “It can handcuff you there a little bit.”
Both young catchers have shown promise at the plate. The 22-year-old Quero (.275/.353/.343) has been a heart-of-the-order mainstay as one of the team’s best contact hitters, adding 20 RBI since his April debut. He hit his first career home run last weekend at Colorado and has also picked off three baserunners.
Teel, 23, (.246/.390/.311) is still looking for his first dinger to go with four doubles and four RBI.
Honoring Bobby Jenks
Before Wednesday’s game, the Sox unveiled a sign with a comic-book style image of late legendary closer Bobby Jenks on the wall behind home plate adjacent to the team’s dugout.
Sox players will wear No. 45 patches on their uniforms in Jenks’ honor starting with Thursday’s game against the Guardians, entering the 2005 World Series reunion weekend at Rate Field.
Jenks, who died last week after a battle with stomach cancer, was laid to rest Wednesday after funeral services at Rua de Cascais Cemitério de Alcabideche in Portugal.
