After missing the first five and a half months of the season due to an ACL injury, former Duke ace Marcus Stroman returned to a major league mound in mid-September—and so far, it looks like he hasn't skipped a beat.
Stroman made two starts this past week as his Toronto Blue Jays inched closer to securing a playoff spot and have now moved within a single game of the Kansas City Royals for the best record in the American League. He picked up the victory against the Boston Red Sox Sunday at home, recording 14 of his 21 outs via the ground ball in a seven-inning, six-hit, one-run performance.
The right-hander's most recent outing was his best to date, as he fired seven shutout innings with five strikeouts against the New York Yankees Wednesday—the team chasing Toronto in the American League East standings. After Thursday's win, Stroman's season record stands at 3-0 and he boasts a 1.89 ERA in 19.0 innings.
Marcus Stroman doesn't allow a run in 7 IP as @BlueJays beat Yankees, 4-0. Toronto now leads AL East by 3.5 games. pic.twitter.com/ELQcUtMTMU
— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) September 24, 2015
The Blue Jays now hold a 3.5 game lead on New York with 10 games remaining in the regular season. Their magic number to clinch the division is now 8, and two to clinch a postseason spot—for the first time since 1993—with a wild-card berth. Stroman figures to be a key member of Toronto's postseason run, slotting into a rotation that already includes David Price, Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey.
The Yankees—who currently hold the top Wild Card spot and sit four games up on the Houston Astros for the second—currently have former Blue Devil Chris Capuano on their roster after releasing him multiple times earlier in the season. Capuano appeared in relief during Sunday's Subway Series finale against the New York Mets this past weekend, allowing two hits and one run in an inning of work. Capuano has seen sporadic action on the mound for the Yankees in September thanks to expanded rosters, but it is unlikely he will make the 25-man roster should New York clinch a playoff spot.
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