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 He finally found a grip on the pitch that works for him in
mid-July. And now he gives the hitters that sinking feeling when he
is on the mound.
The rookie right-hander pitched a three-hitter for his first career
shutout on Monday as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Chicago Cubs
8-0.
Right fielder Jose Bautista led the Toronto attack with a three-run
homer in the fifth inning to become the fifth player to hit 200 or
more career home runs as a Blue Jay.
"I've always wanted a sinker and could never find a grip that was
comfortable for me," Stroman said.
Now he has one. One day he was fiddling with the baseball and found
a grip that worked for him and he first used it in a seven-inning
outing July 19 against the Texas Rangers, a 4-0 win.
"The sinker was awesome," he said. "I threw a majority of sinkers
today and was able to locate it down pretty well and I kept the ball
on the ground. It allows me to go deep into the games."
Stroman (10-5) allowed three singles and no walks while striking out
eight in the opener of a three-game series.
"Very aggressive, attacked the strike zone, first-pitch strikes were
very high with him." Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "Good life to
his pitches, threw very, very well. He did a great job."
The first hit Stroman allowed was a second-inning single by right
fielder Jorge Soler. The next hitter, catcher Welington Castillo,
grounded into a double play.
The rookie right-hander did not allow another base runner until Cubs
first baseman Mike Olt singled with two outs in the eighth.
Cubs third baseman Chris Valaika singled with one out in the ninth.
"It was a dominating performance," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons
said. "The breaking ball kind of deserted him a couple of games but
it was back tonight. He's got power, when he's locating it's a tough
at-bat."
Bautista's homer in the fifth inning was the right fielder's 32nd of
the season and gave the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead against Cubs starter
Jacob Turner (5-9), who allowed seven hits and five runs (four
earned) in six innings.
"Definitely didn't have my fastball command, but I felt I battled,"
Turner said. "But the big pitch was to Bautista. That situation,
being on the road, the way their guy is throwing, I have to execute
a lot better in that situation. ...I didn't execute when I needed
to. It's big moment in the game...that's on me. If we get through
that inning from where we're at, it's a totally different game."
It was the fourth loss in a row for the Cubs (64-80) and the second
win in a row for the Blue Jays (74-69).
Third baseman Danny Valencia gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 with an RBI
single in the second. It brought home first baseman Adam Lind, who
reached first base on an error by second baseman Logan Watkins, and
took third on a single to right by catcher Dioner Navarro.
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It was the seventh game in a row in which the Blue Jays scored first.
Singles by designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and Lind had runners at the
corners to start the Blue Jays' fourth. Navarro hit a sacrifice fly to
center to increase the lead to 2-0.
After Bautista padded the lead, the Blue Jays added a run against
reliever Dan Straly in the seventh. Left fielder Kevin Pillar led off
with a double and came around to score on the second error of the game
by Watkins on a grounder by Toronto second baseman Ryan Goins.
The Blue Jays tacked on two runs in the eighth on doubles by Lind and
catcher Dioner Navarro and a single by Pillar.
Stroman finished the game but admits he nearly did not survive the first
batter of the game, Cubs left fielder Chris Coghlan, who lined a shot
back to the mound. Stroman went down and deflected the ball to shortstop
Jose Reyes who made the out at first.
"That was the first time I've ever had a ball hit like that back at me,"
Stroman said. "Praise the Lord, I got out of the way. Just pure
reaction, I guess I got a glove on it and Reyes was able to make a play.
I ended up with CG and I could have been out on the second pitch of the
game."
"Thankfully for him he was able to deflect," Renteria said. "(Coghlan)
has been hitting the ball pretty well. Being deflected was good for
Stroman to keep him safe, but Coggy's been hitting the ball well."
NOTES: Blue Jays LF Melky Cabrera (broken right pinky finger and
avulsion of extensor tendon) underwent season-ending surgery Monday. ...
Blue Jays RHP Chad Jenkins (broken right hand) had season-ending surgery
to repair the fifth metacarpal Monday. ... OF Jorge Soler was back in
the Cubs' lineup after sitting out Sunday to rest his hamstrings after
playing 14 innings Saturday. He batted fourth and went 1-for-3. ... INF
Luis Valbuena was the Cubs designated hitter and batted third. He
finished 0-for-3. ... Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (8-5, 2.81 ERA) will start
Tuesday against Blue Jays LHP Mark Buehrle (11-9, 3.34 ERA).
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