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." Puma Womens Shoes White . LOUIS -- Russell Martin wanted a better fate for his starting pitcher and helped deliver a happier ending. Puma Womens Shoes Rihanna . -- The Vancouver Whitecaps remained unbeaten with a scoreless draw at the New England Revolution on Saturday. http://www.cheappumawomensshoes.com/. Anderson shook off some unusually poor shooting and hit two clutch 3-pointers in overtime that carried the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Puma Womens Shoes Green . The 18-year-old centre was the Senators first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot 196-pound native of Salmon Arm, B. Puma Womens Shoes Orange . The Canadian skicross racer appeared to have the bronze medal locked up in the mens final at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, only to wipe out while trying to make a pass in the biggest moment of his career. DARLINGTON, S.C. -- NASCAR owner Gene Haas said Friday he has been granted a license from Formula Ones governing body to start a U.S.-based entry in the global series, perhaps as early as next season. Haas received documents from the FIA on Thursday and the organization confirmed the application had been approved. "If he wants, he can join next season, its up to him," FIA spokesman Matteo Bonciani said. The last attempt for an American Formula One team came in 2010, but the entry lacked funding and development to join. Money is not expected to be a problem for the deep-pocketed Haas, owner of CNC machine manufacturer Haas Automation and the Windshear wind tunnel in North Carolina. Haas co-owns a NASCAR team with Tony Stewart that fields drivers Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick and new addition Kurt Busch. Haas pays for Busch himself. "Obviously, were extremely pleased to have been granted a Formula One license by the FIA. Its an exciting time for me, Haas Automation and anyone who wanted to see an American team return to Formula One," Haas said in a statement. Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said at last weekends Bahrain Gran Prix that the U.S.-backed team led by Haas would likely join the series next season. Now its official. "Now, the really hard work begins. Its a challenge we embrace as we work to put cars on the grid," Haas said. Haas team would be Americas first F1 entrant since Penske Racing competed from a base in England from 1974 to 1978. And it would be the first U.S.-based F1 team since Mario Andretti raced for Parnelli Jones Racing from 1974-76. The last American team competing in F1 was run by Carl Haas (no relation to Gene) and Teddy Mayer in 1985-86. At the IndyCar race in Long Beach, Calif., driverss wondered if a U.ddddddddddddS.-based team would actually come to fruition. "Theres not a great track record so far, and those are the data points we have to go off of," said James Hinchcliffe. But his teammate believed Haas might be able to pull it off. "With Gene Haas buying the team, Id say thats the likeliest chance of it finally happening," said Ryan Hunter-Reay. Asked if thered be any interest in the paddock for a shot to drive for Haas in Formula One, the normally reserved Carlos Munoz immediately perked up. "I would," the Colombian said. "Id love to do it." Haas founded his NASCAR team based in Kannapolis, N.C., in 2002. Seven years later, he brought Stewart aboard in a co-owner role to bring legitimacy to the team and help get the cars to Victory Lane. Stewart has delivered. Haas also operates the Windshear, one of the worlds most sophisticated wind tunnels for the testing of car aerodynamics, which would aid any new F1 entry. He said Haas Automation, one of the largest machine tool builders in the world, currently does $1 billion in annual sales, and he believes entering Formula One could help him double that number. "Its not that were trying to individually sell machines. Were trying to make people aware of Haas Automation as a company," he said. He added: "Were just trying to bring our awareness up and Formula One is even more important because half our sales are outside the country. So we think Formula One would be a really great way of bringing us awareness and increasing our sales." His team would be based in North Carolina, next to the existing NASCAR shop. "We want to be an American team. We think that has the most sizzle to it," Haas said in January. ' ' '