DUNEDIN, Florida – With the eyes of the Blue Jays front office firmly planted on him, starting rotation hopeful Marcus Stroman had an up and down three innings on Friday afternoon. Connor Cook Jersey . Stroman allowed three runs on four hits, striking out a batter and walking a hitter, too. He threw 46 pitches, of which 31 were strikes. Getting the third out was the problem. "The third guy in each inning kind of hurt me," said Stroman. "The first inning was a walk and then I kind of got lazy on the next guy when I got two quick outs and didnt execute my pitch. Definitely being better with two outs because thats when you want to get back in the dugout." Stroman entered the game in the fourth, with the Jays down 1-0, pitching in relief of Mark Buehrle. Two quick outs later, he battled former Jay Jayson Nix to a full count and lost him on a slider. Catcher Dioner Navarro called for a fastball, but the brash, confident youngster shook off his veteran battery mate. "Which Im perfectly fine with," said Navarro. "We aint kids, man. Were all growing men and we know what weve got to do. He had a pretty good idea of what he was doing. Ive got a pretty good idea of what Im doing. It was just a matter of execution." The next pitch, the first pitch in the at-bat to Kevin Kiermayer, was a change-up left up in the strike zone. "A lot of change-ups up in the zone get hit hard," said Navarro. "I think if he would have thrown it down, we would have gotten a ground ball to the infield." In the fifth, Stroman struck out Sean Rodriguez and erased Desmond Jennings on a ground ball to short, but a double by Matt Joyce and RBI single by Wil Myers soured the taste of the inning. Two quick outs. Manager John Gibbons, though, is impressed with Stromans repertoire. The fastball pops the mitt, the breaking stuff is nasty and the change-up is developing. Stroman is working on the pitch with Brandon Morrow and is throwing a split-change-up, rather than using a circle-change grip. The pitch sinks and, when its working, misses bats. "Its just refining it, getting it in that strike zone," said Gibbons. Earlier this week, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said, tongue-in-cheek, that Fridays outing was "very important" for Stroman. The Jays are stretching him out. Stroman could throw another three innings, maybe four, in his next appearance. They want to see consistently positive results. He insists he isnt paying attention to the chatter that he, along with Drew Hutchison, could be the tandem that backfills a starting rotation led by R.A. Dickey, Brandon Morrow and Mark Buehrle. "It doesnt affect me at all," said Stroman. "It is what it is and I just keep my head down and work. Every time Im out there I try to give it my all and today wasnt my best at all." BUEHRLES CHANGE-UP Mark Buehrle allowed a run on three hits in three innings on Friday. He was on the plate, throwing 31 of his 44 pitches for strikes. "The change-up was probably the best its been in three years that I can remember," said Buehrle. Asked to confirm whether he meant the three previous springs or three previous seasons, he said he meant the latter. "It was moving a lot," said Buehrle. "Guys were swinging and missing at it. There was good movement; dropping, sinking. It was just one of those days I wish you just soak everything in and do the exact same thing you did today and feel today." ROMEROS POSITIVE OUTING Ricky Romero threw two scoreless innings on Thursday. He stranded two, two-out base runners in the eighth. The Rays Mikie Mahtook singled, followed by a would-be inning ending ground ball from Curt Casali. A Maicer Izturis throwing error extended the frame. Romero picked up his teammate, striking out Richie Shaffer.. "I thought he was popping it," said Gibbons. "You know, the first couple he spiked, but after that he settled in. The thing I noticed the most, he looked nice and relaxed out there. He made some good pitches and he looked confident out there. Thats something hes battling. They all battle that, but I thought he looked like he used to look out there.” Romero isnt on the 40-man roster. His name has been uttered only on the periphery when the subject of available starting rotation jobs is discussed. "The best weve seen him in a long time," said Gibbons. "I think hes moving in the right direction." RASMUS IMPROVING Colby Rasmus expects to resume baseball activities on Saturday. Hes missed a week with neck spasms. The centerfielder received a cortisone shot in an attempt to alleviate the problem. "Its definitely helped," said Rasmus. "A couple of things I did, stretching out my back, whatever, and the way I slept that night kind of got my neck going and the treatment, it didnt react well to it and the neck just stayed spasmed up, so I got the shot and the dose pack and it seems to be helping." Rasmus missed time during the first half of spring training last year with a sore muscle in his shoulder. He has experience heading into the regular season with fewer at-bats than first anticipated. "Its just one of them things, I dont know," said Rasmus. "Baseball throws curveballs at you. Youve got to be able to make adjustments and keep working with it, grind through it, find a solution and keep going." Area motorists are thankful Rasmus is feeling better. "I can look in my blind spot now," he joked. JUST CALL HIM "JOHNNY BASEBALL" General manager Alex Anthopoulos is impressed with reliever John Stilson this spring. "Hes been on the radar," said Anthopoulos. "Hes a third round pick, hes one of our better relief prospects, we like him a lot. I think hes had a good camp so far." Stilson, 23, was a third-round pick in 2011 out of Texas A&M. A four-pitch reliever, Stilsons fastball registers 92-93 miles per hour with sink. Hes leaned on pitching coach Pete Walker, new bullpen coach Bob Stanley and consultant Pat Hentgen for advice. Theyre helping Stilson to slow the game down. In the past, when hes gotten into trouble, hes tended to rush his pitches. SEITZER AND SON Blue Jays hitting coach Kevin Seitzer watched as his son, Cameron, a Rays prospect, hit a two-run home run off Todd Redmond in the ninth inning of Tampa Bays 6-3 win on Friday. Hes a proud father. "Spring training is different than regular season," said Seitzer. "He does it against us in the regular season, Im not going to be happy. Its just fun getting to watch your son play." Seitzer appreciated Rays manager Joe Maddos decision to bring Cameron along for the trip to Dunedin. Kevin coached first base in the bottom of the fifth, a gesture by manager John Gibbons, when Cameron entered the game defensively. Cameron is a first baseman. What did they say to each other? "He goes, Whats up pops?," said Seitzer. "I go, Hello bud, this is pretty cool." http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Shareece-Wright-Draft-Jersey/ . The traditional pre-Masters event was halted early due to inclement weather. Harrington, who tied for first in 2003 and won in 2004, became the first three-time champion of the event. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Marcus-Gilchrist-Draft-Jersey/ . After a 99-97 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, his Celtics coaches and teammates have only positive things to say about the Toronto-born rookie. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Rashaan-Melvin-Draft-Jersey/ .com Tour title, closing with a 6-under 64 for a four-stroke victory. The 22-year-old former North Texas player finished at 12-under 268 at Panama Golf Club and earned $112,500 to jump from seventh to second on the money list with $171,500.Leicester Tigers Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill has praised the impact Claudio Ranieris Foxes have had on the city after winning the clubs first top-flight trophy in its 132-year history. It was party-central in Leicester on Monday night as Leicester City were named Premier League champions and local lad Mark Selby won his second world snooker championship.On top of that, Leicester Riders won the British Basketball League title last month, and even Leicestershires cricketers - the whipping boys of the county game for the last few years - are flying high in Division Two. Cockerill - whose Tigers have reached the Aviva Premiership play-offs - has been impressed by the Foxes all season, crediting the spirit among the squad for their historic Premier League title victory and he thinks it has been a great sporting year for the whole city of Leicester.Unbelievable. A fantastic start to the season, everybody thought they would drop off and theyve kept going to the big teams and beating them and they have a fantastic away record, Cockerill told Sky Sports News HQ.You go and watch them play and you can see the spirit and the energy and the commitment for each other. The supporters have been outstanding. My two daughters have to go to school dressed in blue, so that was an interesting discussion around the breakfast table. Leicester boss Richard Cockerill is thrilled with Leicester Citys success Its been fantastic for the city - the buzz around the place with the football is just unbelievable.The former England international believes Ranieris side have demonstrated the spirit of the city with their performances throughout the season and says they have put Leicester on the map. You only come herre to play sport or visit the Cathedral, so its fantastic for the city and we wont have to explain where Leicester is any more because the world knows where it is now, he added. P.J. Hall Jersey. From the football perspective theres not many local lads in that side but clearly theyve bought in to what the citys about the supporters have got behind it.City were unable to win the league at Old Trafford on Sunday when they drew 1-1 with Manchester United, but became champions on Monday night after Tottenham were held to a 2-2 draw by Chelsea.In some ways I was sort of hoping theyd have to win against Everton at the weekend and have the grand finale at home but they can now have that celebration all together, said Cockerill. Leicester City players celebrate winning the Premier League title during a training session at their Belvoir Drive training ground I think it just shows that sport is special and its not just money that buys success. It helps, but I think that the romance of a team that can come from where they have come from - their starting team cost £23m - compared to Man Citys which is £280m or something.I think we are under a bit of pressure to deliver now as well so if we can do the same with the Premiership thatll be nice and maybe wed follow them round in an open top bus rather than be at the front.Leicester host Everton this Saturday where they will play for the first time as Premier League Champions, live on Sky Sports 1. 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