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Cubs come up short in Marcus Stroman’s return to Toronto

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Photo credit:© John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Evan Stack
1 year ago
Dan Shulman probably said it best tonight. After this past weekend’s performance against the Angels, Teoscar Hernandez was the guy who really “needed a play”. That play came at a big point in tonight’s game, as Hernandez hit a 3-run home run in the 6th inning to put Toronto ahead for good, en route to a 5-3 win over the Cubs on Tuesday night.
Poor play in the field and at the plate put Hernandez in the dog house with fans, and even sat out last night’s game. The home run, on top of a nice sliding catch in the top of the 4th inning put a couple gold stars on Teoscar’s night, bringing out the famous Teoscar Hernandez smile we have all come to know and love.
Former Blue Jay Marcus Stroman started for the Cubs tonight, and he was very sharp in his five innings of work tonight. Stroman, who accumulated 47 wins and a 3.76 ERA across six seasons in Toronto, got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, but promptly retired eleven consecutive batters.
Stroman gave up an RBI single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 5th inning to tie the game at 1-1 on a slow ground ball hit up the middle. However, Kevin Gausman, tonight’s Blue Jays starter, gave up a solo home run to Christopher Morel in the top of the 6th to put the Cubs back ahead. It was one of two solo homers that Gausman gave up tonight, with Wilson Contreras owning the other one.
Despite Stroman’s strong performance and only sitting at 88 pitches, Cubs manager David Ross pulled him and threw in Brendon Little, a reliever making his major league debut. To put it nicely, it was a forgettable debut for Little. Little hit Bo Bichette with a pitch, and then allowed an infield single by Matt Chapman, in which Little fielded the ball and slipped to the ground. One pitch later, Hernandez squared up a sinker and put it into the right field seats. All of that happened in Little’s first five MLB pitches, and although he did record two outs, his ERA now sits at a glistening 40.50.
Chicago scored a run in the top of the 7th to make it 4-3, but Guerrero Jr. hit is 27th home run of the season in the bottom half of the frame to get the run right back. Trevor Richards and Jordan Romano collected the final six outs of the game, and Toronto clinched the series. The win also gave Kevin Gausman his 10th win of the season, which puts him in a tie for second on the team in pitcher wins with… yes… Adam Cimber.
The Blue Jays will look to sweep the series tomorrow, as Mitch White gets the start. White will look to rebound from his last start, in which he gave up seven earned runs against the Angels. The Cubs have not announced a starter yet, but I wouldn’t be upset if it was Brendon Little.

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