Marcus Stroman Records 1st Major League Hit as Pinch Hitter

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman went 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit single and a run scored during Tuesday's 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. In doing so, he became the first American League pitcher in the history of interleague play to record his first major league hit as a pinch hitter since Wade Davis achieved the feat during the 2011season with the Tampa Bay Rays, per ESPN.com.Stroman's eventual run on an error by Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diazsealed the victory for the Jays.Aside from his hitting, Stroman is having a nice start to the year from the mound, posting a 3.10 ERA and recording 18 strikeouts through 29 innings pitched on route to a 2-2 record.The 25-year-old right-hander is picking up where he left off last season, where he recorded a 3.68 ERA after the All-Star break compared to his 4.89 mark prior. He also bumped up his strikeout rate from 16.9 percent to 22.7 percent after the break. While he hasn't gotten off to a hot start in that department this season, his 15.7 rate figures to increase as the season goes along.Despite Stroman's solid start to the season, the Jays have been slow coming out of the gate. The club sports just a 6-14 record through the first 20 contests, surprisingly due to a lack of offense. They sit last in the AL East, 4.0 games back of fourth-place Tampa and 7.5 behind division-leading Baltimore.
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