Jays walk off empty-handed
Stroman’s strong start, Smoak’s tying blast wasted in 10th
CLEVELAND— The Blue Jays demonstrated much more of a “compete” factor on Saturday night at Progressive Field, but the end result was a 2-1 loss to the Indians in the bottom of the 10th inning on a deep home run by Francisco Lindor off Danny Barnes.
It was the eighth walk-off win by a Jays’ opponent this season and the third on this road trip, which ends Sunday.
With Jays starting pitchers looking to preserve the bullpen arms by consistently working deeper into games, it was not a good sign when manager John Gibbons was forced to visit his most reliable pitcher, Marcus Stroman, accompanied by trainer George Poulis with two runners on and one out in the fourth inning after just 51 pitches.
Apparently blisters are the new oblique.
Recall that earlier in the season on July 3 at Yankee Stadium, Stroman came out of a game after five innings with a mini-blister problem to his right hand. He was taken out as a precaution and afterwards levelled a conspiracy-of-silence charge against the commissioner’s office and the new baseballs made in Costa Rica, which he believed were made differently this season in order to provide more offence — and clearly to create more blisters. Coincidentally, the start before that Yankee Stadium effort in Baltimore he threw a careerhigh 119 pitches.
Early in Saturday’s game, cameras caught Stroman studying his finger with a concerned look. After every inning the dynamic 26-year-old would bounce off the field and head down the tunnel in the direction of the clubhouse. But he soldiered on, finishing at least six innings for the 14th time in 20 starts.
The Long Island native powered his way through the first three innings, allowing just one hit that was erased on a double-play grounder. But in the fourth, with one out, he walked Lindor and allowed a bouncing single into right field by Michael Brantley, placing runners on the corners. That was when Gibbons and the training staff paid a visit.
Satisfied that Stroman could continue, Edwin Encarnacion hit a sharp ground ball directly at third baseman Josh Donaldson. It looked like an inning-ending double play. Donaldson bobbled the grounder, but managed to retire Encarnacion at first base, producing the first run.
Stroman gutted it out and managed to hang in through 82⁄ innings and
3 117 pitches before being relieved, with the game tied 1-1, by Ryan Tepera. He allowed five hits and five walks and pitched out of a secondand-third, one-out jam in the sixth inning.
The Indians were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. It was a much-needed effort. The Jays starting rotation over the previous 18 games had been averaging just 42⁄
3 innings. The last time Jays starters logged six-plus innings in back-toback games is June 28 and 29, Stroman and J.A. Happ. The bullpen is on fumes.
Meanwhile, the bats were silenced through seven innings by Indians right-hander Danny Salazar, just returning from the disabled list after right shoulder soreness. It was his first appearance since pitching in relief at Kansas City on June 3.
Salazar faced the minimum 21 batters through seven innings, allowing just one hit, to Kevin Pillar, that was erased on a double-play grounder by Ryan Goins. Earlier in the season, The 27-year-old from the Dominican Republic had been roughed up at Rogers Centre, allowing five earned runs in 22⁄ innings.
3 All-star Justin Smoak evened the score for the Jays with his 27th home run, the first batter faced by all-star lefty Andrew Miller.
The Indians fielded a diverse U.N.type starting lineup on Saturday featuring five Dominicans, two Americans, a Puerto Rican, a Colombian and a Brazilian.