Jays, A’s fold pair of aces for the season

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Tuesday it’s unlikely Marcus Stroman will return to the rotation as he continues to recover from a blister on his throwing hand.

“You won’t see him pitch, I would think,” Gibbons said before Tuesday ’s first of three games versus the Red Sox in Boston. Gibbons said Stroman will continue to throw on the side in an attempt to build a callous on his finger. The right-hander, who took pride in back-to-back 200-plus inning seasons, has logged 1021/3 this season.

As for Blue Jays outfielder Randal Grichuk, he was back in the lineup two days after he crashed face first into a guard’s metal chair. Concussion tests were negative. Grichuk was left with a bloody nose, swollen left eye socket and a few facial cuts. Meanwhile, if the Oakland Athletics are to advance to the playoffs, they’ll have to do it without Sean Manaea.

A lefty who threw a no-hitter this season, Manaea is done for the year because of shoulder trouble, the team said. The playoff-contending A’s said Manaea, on the disabled list since Aug. 26, will have an operation to repair a left shoulder impingement.

The 26-year-old Manaea went 12-9 with a 3.59 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 1602/3 innings this year. The A’s entered Tuesday trailing first-place Houston by three games in the AL West. They also were three games behind the Yankees for top spot in the wildcard standings and 71/2 games up on Seattle and Tampa Bay for the second wild-card spot. Oakland has already lost Daniel Gossett, Kendall Graveman, Jharel Cotton and A.J. Puk for the year after Tommy John surgery. “I think the psychology of it, based on the fact that we’ve had so many this year, it’s almost like we’re numb to it,” manager Bob Melvin said.