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Blue Jays ride Stroman’s dominance to big win over Boston

By Keegan Matheson

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The Toronto Blue Jays took game one of their weekend series over the Boston Red Sox with a 6-1 victory on Friday night. Marcus Stroman stole the show, and the timing could not have been better. With the New York Yankees on the verge of falling to the Mets, Toronto could extend their lead in the AL East to 4.5 games.

14. 6. 39. Final. 1

Notes:

  • Michael Saunders rejoined the Blue Jays for this game, and is expected to stick with the team for the playoff run. After a lost season to a freak injury, it’s good to see Saunders have an opportunity to be in the middle of the excitement. Devon Travis, soon to undergo an exploratory procedure on his injured shoulder, also joined the party in the Blue Jays dugout.

    • It was Marcus Stroman’s 2015 home debut, if you hadn’t heard. Despite battling an illness earlier in the week, his velocity didn’t skip a beat.

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  • Russell Martin threw out his 25th runner of the season with a strike on Mookie Betts. Eventually, the MLB will realize that running on Martin is a fundamentally terrible idea. Until then: fantastic!
  • Toronto broke through in the 3rd following a Kevin Pillar double. After a Cliff Pennington sac-bunt moved him to third, Ben Revere would bring him in with a ground ball.
  • Justin Smoak put two more on the board in the 4th, doubling in Jose Bautista and Encarnacion, whose trademark #EdwinHustle got him in all the way from first base. Goins would then triple in Smoak with a beautiful drive off the right field wall to make it 4-0.
  • Some timely double-plays continued to pile up for the Blue Jays, with Josh Donaldson, Ryan Goins and Cliff Pennington easing the strain on Stroman with some tight defense. The ground balls came courtesy of Stroman’s sinker, which played a leading role in pitch selection.

    • Up 4-1 in the 6th, the Blue Jays loaded the bases with none out for Pillar, who would chop into a force out at home. After Russell Martin scored on a wild pitch, Pennington picked up an RBI with a sac fly to left field.

    STARTING PITCHING . A+. Stroman is here, and he’s for real. Over seven strong innings, he allowed just one earned run on six hits, striking out three and walking one. If he keeps this up, the Blue Jays could have a surprisingly potent 1-2 punch atop their rotation.. Game Ball. <strong>Marcus Stroman</strong>

    B+. A great contribution of secondary offense from Smoak on Friday, something that will go a long way in October. The slugger went 2-for-4 with a double and 2 RBI.. Game Ball. <b>Justin Smoak</b>. OFFENCE

    <b>Hendriks, Sanchez</b>. BULLPEN . A. The Crocodile looked sharp, hitting 98 MPH on the radar gun after entering to begin the 8th. He would strike out two and allow one double in a scoreless inning. Sanchez took over in the 9th, and outside of an unlucky single against the shift by <strong><a href=. Game Ball

    Next: Recapping top prospect Reid-Foley's 2015 performance

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