DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Ricky Romero is headed back to the minors. One day after being shelled by the Detroit Tigers, the former Opening Day starter and fellow pitcher Marcus Stroman were sent to the Blue Jays minor league camp. Toronto manager John Gibbons said both pitchers needed more work. Gibbons tried to soften the blow for Romero, saying the 29-year-old left-hander had pitched well earlier in the spring and was moving in the right direction after two troubled seasons. "We really like what he did this camp," Gibbons told reporters Wednesday prior to a Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies. "Just go down there and polish it up." Stroman, a 2012 first-round draft choice who pitched in Class-AA last season, managed just one out in Tuesdays 18-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The 22-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs on six hits. "He was kind of the odd man out," said Gibbons. "He had trouble throwing strikes (Tuesday). Hes got to do that." Romero, who is due to make US$7.75 million this season, walked five and threw two wild pitches in 2 2/3 innings. Unofficially he threw 57 pitches, 23 for strikes. Gibbons said Romero needs to do "whatever it takes" to throw strikes. He was an all-star in 2011 when he went 15-11 with a 2.92 earned-run average. In 2012, he slumped to 9-14 with a 5.77 ERA and things got worse in 2013, when he saw action in just four games in the majors with an 0-2 record and 11.05 ERA. He spent most of last season in the minors where he went 5-8 with 5.52 ERA. "Its a long road. You never know if a guys going to make it back from that or not," said Gibbons. "But he was starting to show the signs of it. (Tuesday) he wasnt as good and it just kind of reaffirmed, Hey start him down there, but hes moving in the right direction." Romero had been a feel-good story earlier in spring training. Gibbons called him "the big talk of camp" last week after giving up one run in seven innings for an ERA of 1.29 in three appearances. But Romero fell back to earth Tuesday in Lakeland. He gave up three runs on three hits with five walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches. "Weve taken too many steps forward to dwell on this," Romero said philosophically afterwards. Somewhat bizarrely, he referred to a "weird weather day" in noting "the balls were a little slick and just kept coming out of my hand." It was a sunny 20-degree day at Joker Marchant Stadium. Romero has been positive this spring, making an effort to stay in the moment rather than labour in the past or worry about the future. A lot of people have been rooting for him to succeed, including his manager. "We feel for the guy," said Gibbons. "Its not just looking at results. As much work as the kids putting in, things like that -- the battles hes going through, mentally -- you root for him. You root for him extra hard. "But were encouraged. Were positive after this camp. He may look at it differently but we feel positive with what he accomplished this spring." Romero had left the clubhouse by the time the announcement was made. Gibbons said the pitcher was disappointed at the news. "And rightfully so. I cant blame him for that, but hopefully he feels good about how this spring went." Despite the positive signs, Gibbons said he always saw Romero as having an outside shot at making the team. "Personally I thought regardless of the camp he had, it would probably do him some good to start down in the minor leagues in real competition where things are different," he said. "Just to make sure hes back to where he needs to be. "Because you dont want him to come up and if hes not ready to start the season, backslides and he may never regroup. So that was kind of my thinking. But that wasnt everybodys opinion. If he proved he was ready in spring training, he might have been the guy." NOTES -- Gibbons said closer Casey Janssen felt "great" after a throwing on the mound Tuesday and will go again Friday. Hes slated to make three or four appearances before the season starts March 31 in Tampa. Janssen has been limited in action to protect against shoulder soreness. Malik Monk Jersey .Y. - Carey Price had an early feeling that one goal might be enough to settle the latest matchup between his Montreal Canadiens and longtime Original Six foe, the New York Rangers. Marvin Williams Jersey . Forsman closed with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions Sunday for his third Champions Tour title. He beat Jay Don Blake by two shots. http://www.hornetsteamproshop.com/Cheap-...Hornets-Jersey/. Doug Fister allowed two runs over seven innings and Washington hit three solo homers in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. Larry Johnson Jersey .Y. - Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby captured his second career Art Ross trophy on Sunday after leading the NHL in scoring this season. Kemba Walker Jersey . -- Scottie Wilbekin sat on the bench for the final minute, holding a bag of ice against his left knee. LOS ANGELES -- Although his San Antonio Spurs have the NBAs best record and the longest active winning streak after four weeks of unbeaten basketball, coach Gregg Popovich can always find areas of imperfection. The Spurs defensive performance against the woeful Los Angeles Lakers made it easy this time. Tony Parker scored 25 points, Kawhi Leonard added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the Spurs beat the Lakers 125-109 Wednesday night for their 11th consecutive victory. Danny Green scored 16 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the NBA-leading Spurs, who havent lost since Feb. 21 while winning 14 of 15. San Antonio managed to hold off a decent challenge from the Lakers with strong shooting down the stretch and 14 second-half points from Leonard, but Popovich wasnt overly impressed. "Probably the only thing I liked is that they hung in there," Popovich said. "I thought we played really porous defence. I thought a lot of that was because L.A. was very aggressive. They were in attack mode, and I dont think we adjusted to it until maybe the end of the third quarter. From that point, I thought our defence was very good." Green and Manu Ginobili hit three 3-pointers apiece for the Spurs, who opened a three-game California road trip by calmly matching their longest winning streak of the season. Parker took charge after halftime, scoring eight points in the third quarter and catalyzing San Antonios offence in the fourth. "We have to give a lot of credit to the Lakers," Parker said. "It took a lot of energy for us to win. We have to play better." With their seventh straight victory over the Lakers dating to last seasons playoffs, the Spurs opened a 1 1/2-game lead over Indiana for the leagues best record. San Antonio leads Oklahoma City by two games atop the Western Conference. "The Spurs are a fine-tuned machine," said Lakers centre Robert Sacre, who had a career-high 11 rebounds. "They have all the pieces to make it work, and if one guy goes down, they have someone to fill that spot." Xavier Henry scored 24 points and Pau Gasol had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in the Lakers sixth loss in seven games. A few hhours after longtime Lakers coach Phil Jackson got a standing ovation across the continent at his first game at the New York Knicks top basketball boss, his fiancee, Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, watched Los Angeles stumble to its 20th loss in 26 games.dddddddddddd. "It was a tough way to go out, but we fought," Henry said. "You could tell from the jump that we really wanted it. About six minutes in, the guys really pushed the tempo and really gave them a run." Kent Bazemore scored 13 points and hit three 3-pointers for the Lakers, who hadnt played since their 34-point loss at San Antonio five days earlier. That win was the biggest in this long-standing rivalry for the Spurs, who have followed up last springs four-game playoff sweep of Los Angeles with three straight wins this season. "In the last game, the effort wasnt there and the toughness wasnt there, and we got beat by a lot," Lakers forward Ryan Kelly said. "We realized we cant play that way, and tonight was different. We have to build off this and play like this all the time so that we put ourselves in a position to win some games." Green hit five of the Spurs 13 3-pointers in last weeks blowout, but the Lakers largely kept up with powerful San Antonio in the rematch. Los Angeles led for stretches of the third quarter before San Antonio scored 18 points in roughly 3 1/2 minutes with big baskets from Parker and Leonard. The Lakers yielded 100 points for the 12th consecutive game and gave up 110 for the seventh straight game. Los Angeles is the Western Conferences worst defensive team. NOTES: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Baron Davis and new Oakland Raiders left tackle Donald Penn attended the game. ... The Lakers will be without G Jordan Farmar for at least two weeks while he recovers from a moderate groin strain. Los Angeles still is without G Nick Young (sore left knee), F Jordan Hill (sore right knee) and G Steve Nash. ... The Spurs, who have no currently injured players, have missed 83 games due to injury this season. The Lakers have missed 260. ... San Antonio will attempt to sweep the clubs season series when they meet in Texas on April 16 in both teams regular-season finale. 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