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“We’re in a little bit of a rut, that’s obvious. But these are our guys. You keeping running them out there, they’re all capable, they’re all good,” said Gibbons. “You can’t kill them either. You’ve got to watch those guys. But they’re going to be fine.”

The loss came despite the best efforts of Stroman and centre fielder Kevin Pillar, who had a spectacular night at the plate.

Pillar went 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles, and a single. He also walked and scored three times. It was the first time Pillar reached base five times in a game. He rapped a bloop single to right field to lead off the first inning, extending his on-base streak to 16 straight games – 15 of which he picked up at least one hit. His career-high on-base streak is 18 games (Sept.13-Oct.4, 2015).

“He’s having a tremendous year. He’s confident, he’s running with that leadoff spot, I know that,” said Gibbons. “As we talked earlier, it was a conscious effort, a little bit more discipline at the plate. He knew it and everybody else knew it that would really benefit him. And it’s paying off.”

Stroman did not figure in the decision, but pitched well, going 7.1 innings, giving up five hits, two runs, with two walks while striking out 10.

He was replaced by Grilli after throwing 100 pitches. Stroman has now pitched six or more innings in four of his five starts this season, though he was certainly downcast after the game, despite his solid effort.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “We kill ourselves to be at our best when we’re out there, so when things aren’t going our way, it’s tough. We’re doing everything in our power to turn this around.”