{"id":10399,"date":"2026-06-23T04:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T08:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/?p=10399"},"modified":"2026-06-23T06:44:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:44:48","slug":"toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Toronto Blue Jays improved to .500 for the first time since late May after beating the Houston Astros 4-2.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dylan Cease delivered a strong start, supported by a dominant bullpen effort.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Key offensive contributions included a home run and three sacrifice flies.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>Toronto Blue Jays<\/strong> who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-trade-veteran-catcher-tyler-heineman-to-the-los-angeles-angels\">recently trader Catcher Tyler Heineman<\/a> reached an important early-season milestone on Monday night, June 22, <strong>going back to a .500 record for the first time since late May <\/strong>courtesy of a hard-fought 4-2 win over the Houston Astros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"nothing-flashy-just-right\">Nothing Flashy, Just Right<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Blue Jays managed just enough at the plate, pairing a solo home run with three sacrifice flies to bring in key runs when opportunities came.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Kazuma Okamoto<\/strong> was the one who offered the early spark with a home run to left field in the second inning, while <strong>Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Myles Straw and Alejandro Kirk<\/strong> each drove in runs with sacrifice flies as Toronto pieced together its offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting pitcher <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/ceasedy01.shtml\">Dylan Cease<\/a><\/strong> faced Astros right-hander Hunter Brown, working through 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on three hits while striking out eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Make that 10 straight batters retired by Dylan Cease \ud83d\udc40 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JRuaNytoJw\">pic.twitter.com\/JRuaNytoJw<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sportsnet\/status\/2069217528828588388?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite showing strong command at times, his pitch count climbed quickly, forcing him out of the game after 110 pitches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even so, Cease kept Toronto in control long enough for the bullpen to take over. And once the relievers stepped in, the game swung firmly in the Blue Jays\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Braydon Fisher<\/strong> led the way with 1.1 scoreless innings, continuing a strong run in high-leverage appearances. <strong>Tyler Rogers<\/strong> followed and navigated a tricky stretch despite allowing multiple baserunners, while <strong>Louis Varland<\/strong> closed the door in the ninth to secure his 16th save of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LOUIS VARLAND IS AUTOMATIC \ud83d\udd12<br><br>The Blue Jays take the series opener and are back to .500 \ud83d\udc4f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iCfu91YxBe\">pic.twitter.com\/iCfu91YxBe<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Sportsnet\/status\/2069240895061303408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"goal-to-win-the-series\">Goal: To Win the Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bullpen effort proved crucial, especially as the offence continued to find consistency and injuries kept testing the team\u2019s depth.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toronto also paused briefly after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/yimi-garcia-sharp-in-rehab-outing-as-toronto-blue-blue-jays-eye-return\">Yimi Garcia<\/a> experienced renewed soreness during his rehab assignment, a reminder of how thin pitching depth can become over a long season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Manager <strong>John Schneider<\/strong> took the opportunity to praise the side\u2019s resilience while making sure to keep their expectations well-grounded. He noted that the goal remains to win the series and not focus on individual milestones like returning to .500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Cease, the win reflected a team still searching for its best form but showing signs of progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s still a lot of talent here, even though we\u2019ve underperformed what we&#8217;re capable of.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With <strong>Shane Bieber<\/strong> expected to make his season debut in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/baseball\">next MLB game<\/a>, Toronto will look to build on the momentum and push above .500 for the first time in months. For a team that has battled inconsistency early in the season, Monday\u2019s win felt like another step in the right direction rather than a finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: The Toronto Blue Jays who recently trader Catcher Tyler Heineman reached an important early-season milestone on Monday night, June 22, going back to a .500 record for the first time since late May courtesy of a hard-fought 4-2 win over the Houston Astros. Nothing Flashy, Just Right The Blue Jays managed just enough at [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canada","category-sports","category-usa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Toronto Blue Jays managed to climb back to 39-39 after a 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, with help from timely hitting, strong pitching, and a late bullpen shutdown.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Toronto Blue Jays managed to climb back to 39-39 after a 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, with help from timely hitting, strong pitching, and a late bullpen shutdown.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Betting.ca News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T08:27:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T10:44:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doug Hirdle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DHirdle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Hirdle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Doug Hirdle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/671c752adfb5662da980fc82ba1bfc19\"},\"headline\":\"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T08:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T10:44:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\"},\"wordCount\":482,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Canada\",\"Sports\",\"US\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\",\"name\":\"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T08:27:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-23T10:44:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/671c752adfb5662da980fc82ba1bfc19\"},\"description\":\"The Toronto Blue Jays managed to climb back to 39-39 after a 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, with help from timely hitting, strong pitching, and a late bullpen shutdown.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Dylan Cease strikes out eight on 110 pitches against the Houston Astros during 2026 MLB season\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Betting.ca News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/671c752adfb5662da980fc82ba1bfc19\",\"name\":\"Doug Hirdle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b371ffb52c9a39dfffc25b7d20523494b70785e17f9f62e11ef4c354e783b34?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b371ffb52c9a39dfffc25b7d20523494b70785e17f9f62e11ef4c354e783b34?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b371ffb52c9a39dfffc25b7d20523494b70785e17f9f62e11ef4c354e783b34?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Doug Hirdle\"},\"description\":\"Hey all! My name is Doug Hirdle, and I am the main author at Betting.ca. As a huge sports fan, for years I have thought about running a website that\u2019s going to provide people with the latest news from the world of sports. However, watching sports is not my only passion, as I also love betting on them. That\u2019s why I created a website called Betting.ca and began writing reviews of top Canadian sports betting operators and casino sites, while also writing some sports news on the side.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/DHirdle\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betting.ca\\\/news\\\/author\\\/doug-hirdle\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros","description":"The Toronto Blue Jays managed to climb back to 39-39 after a 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, with help from timely hitting, strong pitching, and a late bullpen shutdown.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros","og_description":"The Toronto Blue Jays managed to climb back to 39-39 after a 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, with help from timely hitting, strong pitching, and a late bullpen shutdown.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros","og_site_name":"Betting.ca News","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T08:27:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-23T10:44:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":300,"url":"http:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Doug Hirdle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DHirdle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Doug Hirdle","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros"},"author":{"name":"Doug Hirdle","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/671c752adfb5662da980fc82ba1bfc19"},"headline":"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-06-23T08:27:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T10:44:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros"},"wordCount":482,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg","articleSection":["Canada","Sports","US"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros","url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros","name":"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-23T08:27:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-23T10:44:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/671c752adfb5662da980fc82ba1bfc19"},"description":"The Toronto Blue Jays managed to climb back to 39-39 after a 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, with help from timely hitting, strong pitching, and a late bullpen shutdown.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/dylan-cease-strikes-out-eight-on-110-pitches-against-the-houston-astros-during-2026-mlb-season.jpg","width":600,"height":300,"caption":"Dylan Cease strikes out eight on 110 pitches against the Houston Astros during 2026 MLB season"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/toronto-blue-jays-return-to-500-after-strong-team-effort-vs-houston-astros#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blue Jays Return to .500 After Strong Team Effort vs Astros\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/","name":"Betting.ca News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/671c752adfb5662da980fc82ba1bfc19","name":"Doug Hirdle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b371ffb52c9a39dfffc25b7d20523494b70785e17f9f62e11ef4c354e783b34?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b371ffb52c9a39dfffc25b7d20523494b70785e17f9f62e11ef4c354e783b34?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b371ffb52c9a39dfffc25b7d20523494b70785e17f9f62e11ef4c354e783b34?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Doug Hirdle"},"description":"Hey all! My name is Doug Hirdle, and I am the main author at Betting.ca. As a huge sports fan, for years I have thought about running a website that\u2019s going to provide people with the latest news from the world of sports. However, watching sports is not my only passion, as I also love betting on them. That\u2019s why I created a website called Betting.ca and began writing reviews of top Canadian sports betting operators and casino sites, while also writing some sports news on the side.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/DHirdle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/author\/doug-hirdle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betting.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}