Cubs' Stroman sharp in Toronto homecoming originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Marcus Stroman stood outside the Cubs dugout Monday as the Blue Jays celebrated their former ace with a pregame video tribute.
Tuesday, the right-hander took the mound against the team that drafted and developed him and which he spent his first five and a half big-league seasons.
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In his first career start against Toronto, Stroman allowed one run, three hits and two walks in five innings in a 5-3 Cubs loss.
He worked out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the first inning, retiring 11 batters in a row at one point before Danny Jansen reached on a hit by pitch in the fifth.
Toronto’s lone run off Stroman came a few batters later, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-out seeing-eye single up the middle. In 10 starts since returning from a shoulder injury in July, he has a 2.82 ERA.
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Tuesday’s matchup pitted Stroman against Kevin Gausman — two of the top starting pitchers on this past offseason’s free agent market.
Gausman, who signed a five-year deal with Toronto, allowed two runs in six innings, both tallies coming on solo home runs by Willson Contreras and Christopher Morel.
It was Stroman’s first start at the Rogers Centre since July 24, 2019, shortly before he was traded to the Mets.
With the start, Stroman — Toronto’s first-round pick in 2012 — has now faced every MLB team at least once in his career.
He lowered his ERA at Rogers Centre to 3.40 in his 73rd appearance (69th start) at the ballpark.
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