Blue Jays give Stroman nod over Liriano in wild-card game

Marcus Stroman will take the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays in Tuesday's American League wild-card game against visiting Baltimore (8:08 p.m. ET).

The 25-year-old, who was 9-10 with a 4.37 earned-run average in the regular season, was given the nod over left-hander Francisco Liriano, who manager John Gibbons said would be available in relief, if needed, along with fellow starter Marco Estrada.

"I think Stro's the perfect guy," Gibbons said at Monday's news conference. "Big game, I've seen him do it before. He's gonna come out throwing strikes, so we're glad he's available."

Chris Tillman, who limited the Jays to two runs over 5 2/3 innings last Wednesday, will start for the Orioles. He went 16-6 in 30 regular-season starts with a 3.77 ERA.

Stroman has made three post-season starts, all last fall, and has a 1-0 record, 4.19 earned-run average and 1.34 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched).

His best playoff outing came last Oct. 14 in Toronto's 6-3 victory over Texas in the deciding game of a best-of-five AL Division Series at the Rogers Centre.

Stroman tossed six strong innings in a no-decision, allowing two runs (both earned) on six hits while striking out four. He threw first-pitch strikes to 19 of 25 batters, got 10 groundball outs and threw 68 of his 98 pitches for strikes.

7.04 season ERA vs. Orioles

In 16 starts at home this season, Stroman is 4-3 with a 4.59 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.

He is 1-2 in four starts versus Baltimore with a 7.04 ERA, having yielded 33 hits in 23 innings while only walking four against 12 strikeouts.

Tillman, 28, is 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in two post-season appearances.

The right-hander has failed to last six innings in each of his past three starts and has a 4.45 ERA in 11 starts since the all-star break.

In 24 career starts versus Toronto, Tillman is 5-10 with a 5.44 ERA, one complete game and a 1.37 WHIP.

The winner of the one-game playoff will face the Texas Rangers in a best-of-five divisional series.

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Blue Jays give Stroman nod over Liriano in wild-card game