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TORONTO (AP) — The Houston Astros haven't been giving Collin McHugh much run support in recent starts.
It was the same story Saturday against Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez.
Russell Martin hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning, Sanchez pitched seven innings to get his first win in three starts and Toronto beat the Astros 4-2, stopping Houston's winning streak at four.
McHugh (7-10) allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings to lose his fourth straight start, with two of those losses coming against the Blue Jays.
"There's really no give in that lineup," McHugh said.
McHugh has held opponents to three runs or fewer in 10 of his past 11 outings but his 10 losses are a career-high.
"He didn't quite have the finish on his pitches," manager A.J. Hinch said. "As his outing went he was battling himself a little bit."
The Astros have been held to two runs or fewer in three of McHugh's streak of four losses. Houston is 10-43 this season when it scores less than four runs.
Houston's Jose Altuve had two hits, a double and a triple, giving him 997 for his career.
Josh Donaldson also homered for the Blue Jays, who have won seven of nine meetings with the Astros.
Sanchez (12-2) gave up two runs and three hits in a shaky first, then shut Houston down over the next six frames for his first win since July 25 against San Diego. He allowed two runs and five hits.
"It seemed like they were just going to jump on the heater early in counts," Martin said. "We kind of had to mix it up a little bit, throw some more breaking balls and some off-speed. He did that."
Sanchez lowered his ERA to 2.84, second in the American League to Kansas City's Danny Duffy (2.82).
Jason Grilli pitched the eighth and Roberto Osuna finished for his 26th save.
Carlos Correa hit a two-run double in the first as the Astros had three straight opposite-field hits.
"They slapped three balls to right field in a hurry," Sanchez said. "I just knew something had to change there."
Donaldson cut the deficit in half with a solo homer off McHugh in the bottom of the first, his 28th.
Houston missed a chance to add to its lead in the second, when A.J. Reed led off with a double. Third base umpire Jeff Nelson ruled that Tony Kemp's one-out liner had landed fair, but Toronto challenged and the call was overturned after video review. Kemp grounded out and George Springer struck out to end the threat.
"Replay helps us more than it hurts us but that's where I wish they would have taken away replay for a day," Hinch said.
McHugh left after back-to-back singles by Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders in the fifth. James Hoyt came on in relief and got Troy Tulowitzki to ground out before Martin homered, his ninth.
"The game turned on a dime with one swing," Hinch said. "(Hoyt) made one bad pitch and it cost us three runs."
Hoyt fell behind 3-0 but battled back to 3-2 before Martin homered on a slider.
"I was confident in the pitch" Hoyt said. "Just maybe a little up."
BRUSH WITH THE LAW
While chasing Josh Donaldson's foul pop up in the third, Houston 1B Reed collided with a female police officer sitting by the stands, knocking her to the ground. Neither Reed nor the police officer was injured, and both laughed off the incident.
ROAD WARRIOR
Altuve has reached safely in 43 straight road games, tying Jeff Bagwell for the second-longest streak in team history. Bagwell also holds the record for the longest streak, reaching safely in 51 straight road games in 1999.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: Altuve started at DH with Marwin Gonzalez at 2B.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Mike Fiers (8-5, 4.46) has struck out 18 batters while walking four over his past three starts.
Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (8-5, 4.76) took the loss in an Aug. 1 start at Houston despite allowing one run in seven innings. He's winless in three outings.
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