IAN HARRISON
Associated Press
TORONTO (AP) — Jacob Turner got burned by Jose Bautista, putting the Chicago Cubs in a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
Marcus Stroman pitched a three-hitter for his first complete game in 18 career major league starts, and Bautista hit a three-run homer for the Toronto Blue Jays in an 8-0 win over the Cubs on Monday night.
Bautista turned a 2-0 Blue Jays lead into a five-run edge with a two-out drive into the second deck in the fifth.
“That was really the difference,” Turner said. “If I can get through that inning and keep us where we were, it’s a totally different game.”
Turner (5-9) allowed five runs — four earned — and seven hits in six innings.
“Definitely didn’t have my fastball command, but I felt like I battled,” Turner said.
That wasn’t enough for the Cubs, who couldn’t get anything going against the efficient Stroman.
“He’s got a really good arm,” Cubs manager Rick Renteria said of Stroman after his team was shut out for the 15th time this season, second in the NL behind San Diego’s 18.
Stroman (10-5) struck out eight and walked none, improving to 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in his past three starts.
“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It was a dominating performance.”
Stroman was nearly hit in the face when Chris Coghlan led off the first with a line drive back up the middle. The ball struck Stroman’s glove and ricocheted to shortstop Jose Reyes, who threw to first for the out. Stroman fell on his back as he bent out of the way, but was unhurt.
“I was just happy it didn’t hit my face, and even happier that I was able to deflect it and Reyes was able to make a play,” Stroman said.
Jorge Soler singled starting the second and was erased on Welington Castillo’s double-play grounder. Stroman then retired 19 straight batters before Mike Olt’s two-out single in the eighth.
Bautista hit his 200th homer for Toronto and his eighth home run in 12 games. Bautista is fifth in home runs among Blue Jays, trailing Carlos Delgado (336), Vernon Wells (223), Joe Carter (203) and George Bell (202).
Toronto has hit at least one home run in 12 consecutive games, its longest streak since a 12-game run from Aug. 6 to 18, 2011.
Adam Lind reached on second baseman Logan Watkins’s error beginning the second and scored on Danny Valencia’s RBI single. Navarro’s sacrifice fly doubled the lead in the fourth.
Another error by Watkins helped the Blue Jays score another run in seventh.
The Cubs played on artificial turf for the first time since June 2008, when they had consecutive series at Toronto and Tampa Bay.
“The turf is a different beast,” Renteria said. “It’s something we have to deal with. (Watkins) will be the first to tell you he should’ve caught a couple of balls and made a couple of plays that didn’t work out.”
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR
Major League teams released their 2015 schedules Monday. The Cubs will open at home against St. Louis on Monday, April 6. After three against the Cardinals, the Cubs visit Colorado for three games, then return to Wrigley Field to host Cincinnati and San Diego.
EXTRA DAY FOR WOOD?
Renteria said the Cubs are considering using Thursday’s off day to give LHP Travis Wood an extra day of rest before his next start. Wood, who’s 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in his past 15 starts, allowed seven runs in 1 2-3 innings against Pittsburgh Sunday, his shortest outing of the season. Turner would move up a day if Wood is pushed back.
TRAINER’S ROOM
1B Anthony Rizzo (back) took grounders and hit in the batting cage. Renteria said Rizzo is feeling better but declined to predict a return date. “I’ll reserve my optimism,” Renteria said. “We’re going to take it slow and easy.”
UP NEXT
Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (8-5) faces Blue Jays LHP Mark Buehrle (11-9) on Tuesday. Arrieta is 1-2 with a 7.31 ERA in three career starts at Toronto. Buehrle pitched eight scoreless innings against Tampa Bay last Thursday, his longest outing since June 29.
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