Blue Jays: Stroman forced out early, before pen lets another lead slip away
Marcus Stroman came into Wednesday night’s game against the Yankees on a high — having started the 2017 season wonderfully, and having celebrated his 26th birthday Monday with family and friends in nearby Medford, N.Y.
But after three innings against the Yankees, Stroman was gone to an apparent upper-body injury. The right-hander looked anything but himself as the Jays scored six runs but couldn’t hang on to the lead in an 8-6 loss to the Yankees.
There was some uncertainty over Stroman’s exit. He faced 17 batters over his three innings, and was behind in the count to most of them. He left having thrown 66 pitches, only 36 for strikes.
Jays manager John Gibbons, who had to go to an already overworked bullpen early in the game, said afterward that his right-hander was dealing with tightness in his arm.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Stro- man said. “Just some tightness, I’ll be ready to rock come Tuesday (his next scheduled start).”
Stroman gave up three runs in the bottom half of the fist inning, directly after the Jays struck for four runs in their first at-bats.
All the damage came when Matt Holliday slammed a three-run homer to centre to cash Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks.
Gardner has been tough on the Jays, hitting a pair of homers Monday and going 2-for-3 with two walks in Tuesday’s win.
Stroman surived a single and a walk in the second, but gave up a single and Aaron Judge’s 13th homer of the season to lead off the third. Gibbons let him finish the inning, but he left having allowed five runs, six hits and three walks.
Toronto exploded out of the gate, with Steve Pearce slamming a threerun homer in the top of the first. It was Pearce’s third homer in two nights and completed a stretch where he had hits in five of six at- bats.
Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia, in a struggle of his own Wednesday night, forced in the Jays’ fifth run with a bases-loaded walk in the second. A Kendrys Morales grounder brought home the sixth run, and kept the Jays ahead until the seventh.
Ryan Tepera and Joe Biagini put in three scoreless innings in relief be- fore the Yankees scored two runs on three soft singles to take a 7-6 lead in the seventh.
Chris Carter’s broken-bat single off Biagini tied the game, then the reliever failed to handle a bounce to the mound, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
Joe Smith walked Hicks with the bases loaded to force home the game’s final run.
The Jays can ill afford more trouble to their pitching staff. Not only does manager John Gibbons already have key starters J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez out with injuries, he also has situational lefty J.P. Howell off form early in the season, and Jason Grilli getting struggling with his slider.
That has put the bullpen into disarray, since Gibbons is now uncertain if he can trust Grilli or Howell in their current, late-inning rolls. In fact, the manager may have to drop both relievers out of high-pressure situations, and into low-risk appearances for a few outings until both regain their form.