Blue Jays know they 'can't panic by any means' as offense remains cold

HOUSTON -- Nothing tells the story of the Blue Jays’ sweep at the hands of the Astros more than 9-for-90.

That was the .100 batting average they racked up over three games at Daikin Park, the last a 3-1 loss to Houston on Wednesday night that extended the Blue Jays’ losing streak to five games and put them a game below .500 at 12-13.

A common factor in the sweep was the Astros’ putting crooked numbers on the board when they jumped to leads. On Monday, they broke a scoreless tie with a four-run fifth. On Tuesday, they opened a 3-0 lead in the first. Wednesday, it was a three-run second inning against Bowden Francis that put Toronto in an early hole.

Francis gave up five consecutive hits, starting with a home run to Christian Walker, though he minimized the damage by retiring Yordan Alvarez on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and stranding the remaining two runners.

“It’d be nice, I think, to get a zero on the board and get off to a lead,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “That probably eases everyone up a little bit. And we just couldn’t do that this series.

“They can hit. They’re an aggressive team, and it seems even balls that weren’t hit hard found holes this series. But yeah, I think you need one of those games where you get off to a good start, and that kind of snowballs from there.”

The Blue Jays have totaled a mere nine runs over their five-game skid, during which they are hitting .188 collectively. Among those struggling:

• Andrés Giménez, who has one hit in his last 17 ABs and is slashing .160/.229/.187 in April. Schneider pinch-hit for him in the ninth on Wednesday after George Springer reached on a one-out walk off Josh Hader.

• Anthony Santander, after getting Tuesday off, went 0-for-3 Wednesday with three strikeouts and is hitless in his last 17 at-bats, dropping his average to .189.

• Alejandro Kirk, who went 0-for-4 Wednesday and is 3-for-25 (.120) in his last seven games.

Home runs remain elusive for Toronto, which during its losing streak has totaled one long ball in 170 at-bats. For the year, the Blue Jays have been outhomered 33-13, with the minus-20 differential the worst in the Major Leagues.

“I know the guys in this locker room,” Springer said. “Sometimes you’re just gonna run into a team that’s throwing the ball well. But I don’t see anybody getting down.

“[The Astros] just have good arms. Hunter Brown obviously is one of the best in the game so far. [Ronel] Blanco throws the ball well. The starter today, [Ryan] Gusto, is deceptive, and there’s a lot of velocity. As you mix deception with velocity with a lot of guys in their pen like [Josh] Hader and [Bryan] Abreu, it makes it hard to hit.”

Gusto limited the Blue Jays to a run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out six. Springer tagged him for an RBI double that concluded Toronto’s scoring in the fourth.

That followed Brown’s seven scoreless innings in a 7-0 Astros win on Monday and Blanco’s one-run performance in 6 2/3 innings in a 5-1 win Tuesday.

“Guys [are] pressing a little bit, wanting to get this thing turned around. We’ve just got to get back to getting our pitch,” Schneider said. “Pitches that I think guys usually hit they weren’t getting to. I think guys wanting to get something done and maybe being a little bit antsy, that was kind of the difference today.

“It’s a tough stretch, a tough series. You can’t panic by any means.”

The Blue Jays managed to make things interesting in the ninth when Springer walked and went to third on pinch-hitter Ernie Clement’s double. But Hader struck out Kirk before getting Myles Straw to fly out to center to end it.

“I think everybody believes in each other, and that’s the only thing that matters,” said Springer, who has seen his share of team-wide slumps over his 12-year career and isn’t about to panic. “It’s obviously still early, and I think guys are still getting their feet under them. … It’s over, and on to the next.”

The next is Yankee Stadium, where Toronto will begin a three-game series Friday against the 15-10 leaders of the American League East.