Stroman guts through 'one of the hardest games' of his life

Nothing came easy for Marcus Stroman during his Game 3 start of the ALCS, but as has been the case the entire season, the Toronto Blue Jays starter persevered.

The 24-year-old allowed four runs off a career-high 11 hits while only striking out a single batter, but picked up his first postseason win with an 11-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

"That was probably one of the hardest games I had to battle in my entire life," Stroman said following the game. "I felt like I was in pressure situations, guys on base every single inning."

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

The right-hander found himself in a 1-0 deficit, despite a seven-pitch first inning, before the Blue Jays exploded for nine runs over the second and third off Royals starter Johnny Cueto to give Stroman a 9-1 cushion heading into the fourth.

"I definitely didn't have my best stuff today," Stroman said. "We pick each other up, we pick each other up on this team. When one guy's not playing well, everybody else picks that person up."

After pitching his first clean inning in the fourth, Stroman found himself in trouble again in the fifth. Alcides Escobar scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-2, and Mike Moustakas followed with an RBI single. Despite having trouble missing bats, manager John Gibbons opted to stay with his starter, who rewarded the skipper by retiring five of the next seven batters.

"He has more confidence in me sometimes than I think I have confidence in myself," Stroman said of Gibbons' decision to leave him in. "That's hard to do."

With the win, the Blue Jays head into Game 4 on Tuesday trailing the best-of-seven series 2-1. Should the series reach a seventh game, Stroman would be the projected starter.