The Associated Press
ATLANTA–John Gibbons thought Marcus Stroman might be the perfect choice to stop the Toronto Blue Jays’ skid after three-straight losses to Atlanta.
The manager didn’t expect Stroman to provide such a lift with his bat, though.
Stroman threw 5 2/3 strong innings, and hit just the second homer by a pitcher in Blue Jays’ history, to lead Toronto over Julio Teheran and the Braves 9-0 last night.
“Stroman has a way of doing something if we need something desperately,” Gibbons noted.
“He comes through.”
Stroman had a pinch-hit double against St. Louis on April 25 but was shocked by his opposite-field homer on an 0-2 pitch from Teheran in the fourth inning.
“I’ve never hit an opposite-field homer, even in batting practice, in my life,” he noted.
Stroman’s first career homer was the first by a Toronto pitcher since Mark Hendrickson’s shot against Montreal back on June 21, 2003.
Darrell Ceciliani, recalled from ‘AAA’ Buffalo on Tuesday, had a run-scoring double in the first and a two-run homer in the third before leaving with a left shoulder injury.
Ceciliani started in centrefield after Kevin Pillar was suspended two games without pay for yelling an anti-gay slur at Braves’ reliever Jason Motte during Wednesday night’s game.
Teheran hit Jose Bautista with a pitch in the first inning–a day after Bautista’s bat flip following a home run drew criticism from the Braves.
Teheran’s first pitch to Bautista was inside. The second one hit Bautista’s thigh.
Bautista walked to first base as home plate umpire Paul Emmel issued warnings to both benches.
Bautista later had two hits, including a double.
Teheran (3-4) allowed a career-high nine runs in three-plus innings in his fourth-straight home loss.
The Braves, who scored eight or more runs in three-straight wins over Toronto with Freddie Freeman in the lineup, saw their offence disappear after learning the first baseman will miss about 10 weeks with a fractured left wrist.
Freeman was hurt when hit by a pitch from Toronto’s Aaron Loup in Wednesday night’s 8-4 win over the Jays.
