When J.P. Arencibia launched a rocket for his eighth home run of the season on Sunday he did it with no one on base. It was a big hit, but not the big hit the Jays were searching for all afternoon.
They stranded 11 men on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and that “1” — a single by Edwin Encarnacion that should have scored Rajai Davis from second — didn’t result in an RBI.
So they lost 3-2 to the lowly Houston Astros at the ’Dome and are now 7-10 in one-run games as they head into a three-game series in the Bronx against the Evil Empire.
Arencibia’s homer in the sixth was the game’s final run, even though the Jays had runners on in each of the final three innings and loaded the bases in the ninth. But Aaron Hill grounded out to third base and the Blue Jays fell back to .500 (23-23). Houston (17-3) left town with a series win.
Kyle Drabek (3-3, 4.34 ERA) took the loss after giving up three runs on eight hits in six innings. He walked three and fanned three. The big blow was a two-run shot from Hunter Pence in the fifth inning that gave the ’Stros a 3-1 lead. Ex-Jay prospect Brett Wallace, who was part of the Doc Halladay deal, went 2-for-3 with an RBI single. He’s now batting .318 and playing first base and looking like he could be a serious star — not “the damaged goods” that one Jays scout labeled him when the deal for outfielder Anthony Gose occurred last July.
MONDAY: The Jays will look to get the bats going against the bloated but tough Bartolo Colon (2-2, 3.16 ERA). Colon is coming off his best outing as a Yankee — a three-hit, eight-inning performance vs. Baltimore — and beat the Jays earlier in the year. Colon is 8-2 over the past decade vs. the Jays with a 3.09 ERA (ouch). He goes against Carlos Villanueva (1-0, 1.48 ERA), who’s making his first start in the majors since 2009 and is filling in for the injured Jesse Litsch.
The Bombers’ Russell Martin from East York and Arencibia (2-for-4 on Sunday) lead all MLB catchers with eight homers.
2011 J.P. Arencibia Statistics
Avg.: .244
AB: 123
HR: 8
RBI: 19
R: 13
H: 30
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Adrian Brijbassi 
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