Tigers spoil Stroman’s return with slam
It has been rare in 2017, with the American League doing a daily wildcard shuffle, that two teams engage in a series that means nothing to either squad. But such is the case as the Blue Jays host the Tigers this weekend.
The first game went to the Tigers, 5-4, on Friday. Looking around Rogers Centre, nobody truly seemed to care.
It was only on the off-day Thursday — following an examination by a team doctor of his bruised right elbow, the result of a line drive off the bat of Mark Trumbo in Baltimore — that Marcus Stroman was officially confirmed as the Jays’ Friday starter. He didn’t miss a turn in the rotation.
“Once he’s healthy, feels fine, get him back out there as soon as possible,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “Otherwise it drags and you run the risk of losing that feel a little bit. Last time we did that, we gave him two (extra) days off. He wasn’t the same. (His performance) was off that day.”
Gibbons was referring to Stroman’s outing Aug. 23 in Tampa Bay, when he pitched on his seventh day and allowed five earned runs in a Jays victory.
“Unless it’s an injury to jeopardize your season, get out there as soon as you can,” Gibbons said. “And since he’s one of the main guys too, keep him working. There’s a pecking order in this game. You got your rotation guys, your top guys. I don’t know if priority is the correct word, but those are your guys and you do the best you can to keep those guys in, unless they need a break.”
Stroman retired the first eight Tigers Friday before a six-batter stretch with two outs in the third inning, during which he failed to retire anyone and allowed four runs on a grand slam by Nick Castellanos.
Centre-fielder Kevin Pillar, standing in the twilight with the roof pulled back, reacted to the ball off the bat like it was an inning-ending flyball to deep right-centre. All of a sudden he broke back as the ball carried just over the fence for Castellanos’s third career grand slam. To prove it was indeed a tough sky, left fielder Teoscar Hernandez lost the next fly for a John Hicks single.
Pillar was front and centre again in the sixth inning. Kendrys Morales singled in front of Mikie Mahtook, with Jose Bautista holding up until the ball landed. As Bautista raced home he was looking for help to stand or slide at the plate, but Pillar was off to the side watching. Bautista still scored.
Then Pillar grounded into an around-the-horn triple play against Detroit reliever Drew VerHagen.
It was the first triple play the Tigers had turned since Aug. 1, 2001, against the Mariners.
It was the ninth the Jays had hit into, the last being on July 26, 2015, at Seattle.
Friday’s game was a return for Gibbons. He had been away tending to family business at home in San Antonio since the first game of the series in Baltimore.
The week away from the team gave him a rare opportunity to see the game from a different angle, other than seated in the dugout.
“It looks easier the farther away, I will tell you that,” Gibbons said.
“Personally I missed it, being away from the guys. Even though it’s been such a tough season, this is your group. You’re part of it and there’s that bond in here with each other. Seven months and you miss that. It’s weird being away that length of time. But you look at things a little differently because you’re not right up in the heat of it.”
Shortstop Richard Urena had a personal highlight with his first career home run, against reliever Alex Wilson in the eighth. Bautista slammed his 22nd homer of the year, also against Wilson, two batters later. Shane Greene replaced Wilson in the ninth for his seventh save.