Departure of Stroman compounds worrisome loss for Blue Jays

Aaron Judge hit his 13th homer of the year and the Yankees scored three runs in the seventh to get an 8-6 win over the Blue Jays to take the series.

NEW YORK – Poised for a big night after a four-run first and with Marcus Stroman on the mound, the Toronto Blue Jays instead found more mess to wade through on both micro and macro levels.

On the micro end of things, early leads of 4-0 and 6-3 were frittered away as an attempt to extend Joe Biagini beyond his previous season-high of 30 pitches unravelled in a three-run seventh that propelled the New York Yankees to an 8-6 victory.

On the macro side, the departure of Marcus Stroman after only three innings due to what he vaguely described as “some general arm tightness” is an exceedingly worrying development for a rotation diluted by injuries to J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez.

The Blue Jays were already debating how to fill a start next week at home against Cleveland – Casey Lawrence and T.J. House are the leading candidates – and preparing, for now, to give Mat Latos another start Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Given the dearth of options available to them at triple-A Buffalo, they can ill afford any sort of absence, even a short-term one, from Stroman. If he needs to miss time, this already star-crossed season is in major trouble.

“It’s not something I’m worried about,” said Stroman, who added there are no plans for further tests on his right arm. “I’ll just go through my normal progression during the week and I’ll be ready to rock Tuesday.”

Asked if he felt the tightness in a specific spot, he replied: “No, just general. I just had trouble getting loose today.”

The end result is a bad state of affairs for the Blue Jays, who head into an off-day Thursday at 9-19 after letting a winnable rubber-match game against the impressive 17-9 Yankees slip through their fingers.

A Justin Smoak RBI single and Steve Pearce three-run homer in the first staked the Blue Jays to a 4-0 lead but Stroman, off from the get-go, surrendered a three-run shot to Matt Holliday in the bottom half.

A Russell Martin bases-loaded walk and Kendrys Morales run-scoring fielder’s choice in the second pushed the edge back up to 6-3, but Aaron Judge dropped the gavel on Stroman in the third with a two-run mighty wallop to straightaway centre that made it a one-run game.

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“The tightness was causing me just a little tough to get extension at some points,” said Stroman, who allowed five runs on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts. “But like I said I’m not worried about it.”

Ryan Tepera took over in the fourth but needed Biagini to bail him out of the bases loaded, two-out jam in the fifth, which he did, catching Kyle Higashioka looking to end the threat.

That was the first of five straight strikeouts by Biagini, a run ended by Judge’s one-out single in the seventh, and that’s when everything unravelled. Chase Headley followed with a double and Chris Carter then dunked a little flare over a drawn-in infield where Ryan Goins normally would have been at short to tie things up.

Didi Gregorius followed with a comebacker that nicked off Biagini’s glove into no-man’s land allowing the go-ahead run to come in on a potential double-play ball. Under different circumstances, he’s out of the jam unscathed.

“You don’t want to discount it, because it counts, but I try to focus on being satisfied with what I’m doing and how I’m throwing,” said Biagini. “If I get outs and the ball is up and I’m not really finishing my off-speed pitches, I’m not happy with that. I’m glad for the team I’m able to contribute and get outs, but a game like tonight, I’m not happy with the results, but I’m happy with my effort because I felt like threw pitches well to give the team the best chance to win in that situation. …

“That’s all you can do. That’s what keeps you sane throughout the season.”

Joe Smith came on and issued a bases-loaded walk to Aaron Hicks before ending the frame, after Biagini threw a season-high 41 pitches. The Blue Jays stretched Biagini out during spring training for a situation like the one they’re in now, and given the current dire straits, he’s in position to build on his base.

“I hope I can do it, I used to be able to do it, albeit at double-A, which doesn’t really have the same weight,” he said. “The only way you’re going to find out is to be able do it, and to come into a game and pitch multiple innings is the best chance you have to see how it translates.”

In contrast to the Blue Jays’ troubles, the Yankees bullpen was brilliant after a shaky four-plus frames from CC Sabathia, who left after the first two batters reached in the fifth. Adam Warren put out that fire, Tyler Clippard threw 1.2 scoreless, Dellin Betances followed with a clean 1.1 before Aroldis Chapman locked things down in the ninth.

“We came out of the gates swinging and then we had some missed opportunities later,” lamented manager John Gibbons.

Even with a floating Bill Welke strike zone that infuriated both teams and led to Yankees manager Joe Girardi’s ejection, that was some top quality relief work, keeping the game in line and locking it down once they went ahead.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, can barely manage to patch one of their holes before another develops.

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