Over the years, Marcus Stroman has established himself as a fiery player. For some, that’s a good thing; for purists, it’s a problem.
Folks were again left to decide how they feel about how Stroman carries himself Tuesday night in the Boston Red Sox’s 10-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
During the third inning Stroman loaded the bases with one out, but got out of the jam by striking out the next two Red Sox hitters. He then walked toward the plate and shimmied a little bit before heading to the dugout.
The next inning, Stroman appeared to quick-pitch Michael Chavis after the third baseman called a timeout right after stepping into the box in an apparent effort to disrupt the pitcher’s timing. Chavis swung and grounded to third, but was able to reach on a fielding error.
Finally, after covering first base on a play, Stroman looked to the Red Sox dugout, where Chris Sale said something to him, according to NESN sideline reporter Jahmai Webster. That prompted the umpires to step in and have conversations with a few folks to diffuse the situation.
Sox manager Alex Cora downplayed the incident, but Stroman cited Chavis as the reason he glanced at the Boston dugout.
What actually was said might never be known, but safe to say there’s no love lost between Stroman and some Red Sox at the moment.
Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:Â
— Eduardo Rodriguez has been mostly good lately, but Tuesday wasn’t a shining performance.
The Sox left-hander allowed six runs on as many hits over five innings of work, striking out five and walking three. Rodriguez surrendered three home runs, two of which were to Jays slugger Rowdy Tellez.
— Tyler Thornburg continued to struggle to find his form.
The once-dominant reliever has stumbled all season, and he had a tough time in the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Thornburg allowed two runs on two hits with two walks in his lone inning of work.
One bright spot for Thornburg, however, was that all three of the outs he recorded were strikeouts.
Over his last 11 games, Thornburg has an 8.53 ERA, striking out 15 and walking nine over 12 2/3 innings.
— Rafael Devers smacked a solo home run late in the game, continuing a nice power surge for the young third baseman.
In 18 games played this month, Devers is hitting .355 with four doubles, five dingers, 18 RBIs and 17 runs scored.
