With his team mired in a little difficulty after getting swept by the Reds over the weekend, Cubs manager David Ross turned to Marcus Stroman to be their stopper against the Rays — who came to Wrigley Field with the best record in baseball (39-16).
“This is the perfect day for Stro,” Ross said. “Good team in here. Good energy. Great crowd. Beautiful day. Memorial Day. Holiday. I know he’ll be feeling it today. He loves the big stage and wants to be that guy that puts us on his back and pulls us out of this little stretch we’re in.
“He’s a guy we rely on. He’s the opening day starter. He’s the horse. He’s the guy — No. 1 on this staff. And he’s pitched like it all year. And I expect nothing less today.”
Stroman, who came in with a 4-4 record but a 2.95 ERA, lived up to those expectations and then some Monday. The veteran right-hander had a no-hitter threw six innings and finished with a complete-game one-hitter in a 1-0 victory over the Rays before a Memorial Day crowd of 38,163 fans at Wrigley Field.
No. 2 hitter Wander Franco broke up Stroman’s no-hitter with a looping single to short left field leading off the sixth inning, with the Cubs leading 1-0. Stroman walked Brandon Lowe to put runners on first and second with no outs. But after a mound visit, Stroman retired Randy Arozarena on a fly to right field, then induced Josh Lowe to bounce sharply to Dansby Swanson at shortstop for a 6-3 double play that ended the inning.
Stroman struck out eight, walked one and hit a batter in a 105-pitch masterpiece. He raised his arms in exultation after getting Franco to bounced out to Matt Mervis to complete the game.
Stroman was bidding to become the first Cubs pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas on Sept. 2, 1972. The only no-hitter at Wrigley in the 50 years since then was thrown by the Phillies’ Cole Hamels in a 5-0 victory on July 25, 2015.
Cubs hitters had their own issues with Rays rookie starter Taj Bradley, who was making his sixth major-league start. After three scoreless innings vs. Bradley, they scratched for a run in the fourth. Seiya Suzuki reached second on an infield single and throwing error by third baseman Taylor Walls. Suzuki advanced to third on Swanson’s deep fly to center and scored on Mike Tauchman’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Though he lost the no-hitter, Stroman’s strong start was a welcome relief for the Cubs after the starting pitcher failed to get through the fifth inning in four consecutive games — since Stroman went eight innings in a 4-2 victory over the Mets last Wednesday at Wrigley Field.
Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Drew Smyly combined to allow 29 hits and 17 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings in those four starts (8.83 ERA). The Cubs lost all four games and were outscored 35-11.
It was Stroman’s role to be the stopper and he stepped up in a key moment. It was his major-league leading ninth quality start this season, as he lowered his season ERA to 2.59.