How hot is Randal Grichuk right now? Even while facing one of baseball’s most unhittable pitches, he keeps coming up clutch.

Grichuk drilled a slider from Houston’s Cristian Javier for a two-out, two-run double to produce the winning run in Saturday night’s 8-4 victory over the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Entering the game, Javier’s slider had produced a .099 expected batting average since 2020, per Statcast, which is the lowest among MLB starters in that span.

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No matter for Grichuk, though, who is now hitting .342 (13-for-38) with 12 RBIs in his past nine games. In the third inning, he fouled off a first-pitch slider from Javier and sent the second one to deep left-center field, cashing in runners Marcus Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

“You know what I like about Randal? His honesty,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He told me last night, ‘Man, I like to hit behind [Teoscar Hernández]. I feel good there.’

“I said, ‘All right, I’ll hit you there tomorrow.’ And he came through. He’s done a good job. He deserves a lot of credit because, wherever I put him, he’s having a good year.”

Having hit from as high as the No. 2 spot and as low as No. 8, Grichuk is proving he can produce up and down the lineup. He’s also affecting play as the de facto starting center fielder while George Springer remains sidelined.

There were times this spring when Grichuk was arguably the odd man out in Toronto’s outfield: There was Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left, coming off a career year; Springer in center, carrying all the promise of a $150 million contract; and Hernández in right, fresh off a Silver Slugger Award.

But Montoyo insists, in the (hopeful) event all his outfielders are healthy at the same time, he’ll rotate them at designated hitter to keep everyone involved.

Grichuk’s double on Saturday gave the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead, which was whittled down once the Astros’ potent offense finally got to Toronto starter Steven Matz. After retiring the first eight batters he faced, Matz allowed eight hits to his final 15, and he just squeezed through five innings for a bullpen that desperately needed a breather. In terms of innings pitched for their respective units, the Blue Jays’ starters are last in the American League while their bullpen is third.

Matz knew the state of the bullpen Saturday, but that didn’t creep into his psyche for how to attack the Astros. When he departed, Tyler Chatwood, Jordan Romano and Travis Bergen navigated through four innings of one-run ball.

“You can’t be going into the start being like, ‘All right, I have to do this,’” Matz said. “Ultimately, the bullpen just continued to do a great job. Offense as well. It was a good win today, but ultimately I would’ve liked to have gone deeper.”