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. 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." John Carlson Jersey .com) - The Dallas Mavericks had a five-game winning streak snapped last time out, but theyll try to get back into the winners circle Sunday evening when the Milwaukee Bucks pay a visit to American Airlines Center. T. J. Oshie Jersey .com) - The Buffalo Bills will return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday when they welcome the upstart Cleveland Browns to town. http://www.officialcapitalspro.com/Rod-langway-capitals-jersey/ .C., won gold in the womens 200-metre backstroke, and Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont. Alex Ovechkin Jersey . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. Washington Capitals Jerseys . 1 and reigning champion Caroline Wozniacki was among Thursdays third-round winners, while second- seeded Victoria Azarenka pulled out of the draw at the $4.Charlie Nicholas offers up his latest set of predictions for the World Cup Qualifiers, tipping England to win but Scotland and Northern Ireland to struggle. Gareth Southgates side will be looking to maintain their 100 per cent record on Tuesday night when they visit Slovenia, while their neighbours will be keen to avoid losing further ground in Group F as they take on Slovakia after being held by Lithuania.Over in Group C, Michael ONeills Northern Ireland team face a contrasting task to their 4-0 win over San Marino when they visit tournament favourites Germany. Heres what Charlie is predicting in his Sky Bet tips...Slovenia v England England were 2-0 winners against Malta in their World Cup qualifier on Saturday It wasnt a glorious performance against Malta but did anybody really expect it to be an exciting game? I thought it should have been four or five but Malta never came out to play.We know Slovenia are technically decent but have they got enough to take on the big teams? Im not sure. Its a similar one to the Slovakia game and youd hope, being the home side, that they try to win the game. Find out who are the key players England can expect to face against Slovenia in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday Theres this issue with Wayne Rooney,but what are the specifics of it? Are people are suggesting if he doesnt play No. 10 then he doesnt play? Dele Alli has clearly been picked to play somewhere else? There seems to be personal agenda against Rooney and its annoying one, even for a Scotsman!What we do know is Gareth Southgate likes Jesse Lingard. He played okay and got in some decent positions but I couldnt get excited about that performance at home to Malta. Gareth Southgate will take charge of his second game as England interim manager this week This is one of those games where youll create a few chances, take one and leave with the points but if Southgate is bold enough to stick with the forwards that he picked against a Malta then I think theyll win by more than goal and actually get more of a cut through with Theo Walcotts pace away if its more of an open game.Charlie predicts: 0-2 and Walcott to score first (22/1 with Sky Bet)Germany v Northern IrelandWell I know they did well there last time they met theres less pressure on the Germans this time, with six points on the board following 3-0 wins over their supposed main rivals to win the group, Czech Republic and Norway. Kyle Lafferty netted twice in Saturdays victory over San Marino I love watching different games on Match Choice because I dont always follow the Home Nations and there are games I wanted to see, such as how Spains new system worked at Albania and how Germany are evolving.ddddddddddddThe bad news is they dont really need to change much, with Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos going boom, boom, boom. Theyre strong, theyre quick, theyre powerful. Highlights of Northern Irelands 4-0 win over San Marino from World Cup Qualifying Group C Northern Ireland are well-drilled but I just see how they can get through this one unscathed with so many threats to be wary of. Jonas Hector and Joshua Kimmich are virtually left and right wingers. They hardly ever defend and they are hitting the byline for fun.Charlie predicts: 2-0 and Muller to score first (9/1 with Sky Bet)Slovakia v ScotlandWell, Im a critical Scotland fan but we were awful. I felt it was a must win at home to Lithuania, who shouldve beaten us, and now it really is. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. Were not good enough defensively and were not good enough on the ball. Gordon Strachan tried changing too much on Saturday. Oliver Burke is a talent but hes not consistent enough to rely on yet.Think we have to go back to a 4-5-1 formation which means being about the counter-attack. Scotland manager Gordon Strachan admits Slovakia are a tough side to analyse having made big changes to their team in the last few games Sadly I dont feel good about my team at all. We didnt create many chances and I can see Martin Skrtel doing the damage from a set-piece.Charlie predicts: 1-0 and Skrtel to score first (70/1 with Sky Bet)You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the British Masters on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Slovenia v England preview Sky Live: Germany v N Ireland ' ' '