Jays shrug off Stroman injury scare to beat Orioles

TORONTO 7 BALTIMORE 2

BALTIMORE — A scorching line drive did more than merely end the night for Toronto pitcher Marcus Stroman — it also turned out to be a downer for the Baltimore Orioles.

Josh Donaldson hit a pivotal three-run homer and the Blue Jays deftly recovered from Stroman’s scary moment in a 7-2 victory on Saturday.

Stroman was struck on the right elbow by a second-inning liner off the bat of Mark Trumbo. The right-hander immediately dropped to the ground and squirmed in pain near the mound.

“Obviously, you panic right at first. It just felt like my arm exploded,” Stroman said. “But once I started to squeeze my hand while I was on the ground and feel that I had my strength in my wrist and my hand, I felt a little better.”

Stroman was removed by bench coach DeMarco Hale, who was subbing for manager John Gibbons. “He thought that he might be going to be able to pitch,” Hale said. “But we saw that the bruise was on his arm, so it was a nobrainer for me.”

The injury was diagnosed as a contusion. X-rays were negative.

Stroman was replaced by Matt Dermody (2-0), who went 21⁄3 innings before Luis Santos allowed one run and two hits over 31⁄3 innings in his first big league game. The Orioles probably would have fared better against Stroman, Toronto’s ace, than the prospects who replaced him.

“He’s a really good pitcher, so you spend a good amount of time getting ready for that,” Baltimore’s Seth Smith said. “Whenever he’s out, it changes the dynamic.” The right-hander gave up two hits and struck out three in 12⁄3 innings.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said: “There’s a lot of unknown and you get ambushed this time of the year easily with the way the rules are in September.”

Showalter stressed he wasn’t using that as an excuse for the Orioles’ meagre offensive output, but he also expressed his disdain for the expanded rosters and their effect on Baltimore’s playoff push.

“It’s tough. It’s another thing that most who play the game don’t like about this time of year.”