OAKLAND -- Marcus Stroman's mismatched season statistics looked decidedly more balanced after Friday night, when he worked eight-plus innings in Toronto’s 5-1 victory over the Oakland A’s.

Stroman’s 0-3 record didn’t befit his 1.99 ERA entering the game. That sort of conundrum develops when your teammates score one run in 22 innings behind you, which was precisely the indignity Stroman had endured. The Blue Jays took the first step toward improving the looks of Stroman’s numbers by subduing the A’s.

Stroman wanted badly to pitch a complete game, something he has accomplished three times in 113 Major League starts. After the eighth inning, he and Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoya made a deal: Montoya would allow Stroman to begin the ninth. Once Oakland put a runner on base, Stroman would leave the game for closer Ken Giles.

Hired at age 53 to take over the Blue Jays -- the fifth-oldest man to become a rookie big league manager -- Montoya employed old-school common sense in forming his strategy with Stroman, rather than being beholden to the pitch count.

“There was no hard contact,” Montoya said. “He dealt the whole way. He deserved a chance to finish the game.”

Kendry Morales’ leadoff double finished Stroman, who fulfilled his end of the bargain by leaving the mound. But Stroman received just as much praise as if he had lasted the full nine innings.

Stroman had gone winless in his previous nine starts, dating back to last July 27. That meant nothing to Montoyo, who said, “I knew coming in we had a chance to win because he was on the mound.”

Stroman also made a fan of A’s manager Bob Melvin.

“[He had a] really good slider. When he’s good, that’s his pitch,” Melvin said. “He was painting with the heater on the outside corner and then extending off and throwing it for a strike when he needs to. Just enough changeups to some lefties.”

The right-hander yielded six hits, the most meaningful of those being Matt Chapman’s first-inning RBI double. That was Stroman’s lone blemish as he completed eight innings for the first time since Aug. 11, 2017.

Stroman was determined to deliver at least the semblance of a durable outing. “Six is the minimum I want to go,” he said. “If I don’t go at least six innings, I don’t consider that a good job for myself.”

The Blue Jays, who lost all seven games in their season series against Oakland last year, made Stroman’s job easier. Toronto jumped ahead with four runs in the second inning as Socrates Brito and Eric Sogard sandwiched RBI singles around Danny Jansen’s two-run double. Jansen, the ninth hitter, entered Friday’s contest batting .160.

Brandon Drury added his first home run and RBI of the season in the fourth inning against A’s starter Aaron Brooks. Drury’s season-opening skid of 64 at-bats without driving in a run was the third longest in club history, behind Dave Collins (86 in 1983) and Bob Bailor (75 in 1980).