nter as he fell to the ground late in the third

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. Cheap Orioles Jerseys . Smith has spent the last three seasons with the Rockies, playing both left and right field, and has a .275 batting average with 51 homers and 181 RBIs in 487 major league games. Cheap Cal Ripken Jersey . - Tom Brady and the Patriots routed the Bengals and quieted the doubters. http://www.cheaporiolesjerseys.com/ . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three. Cheap Roberto Alomar Jersey . 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Kanes career has been defined by his brilliance in the Blackhawks biggest moments, and his tiebreaking goal with 3:45 to play in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals will rank among the best.HOUSTON - Near the end of a seven-game road trip, there was some concern that the Los Angeles Clippers might be running out of gas.Turns out that there was no need to worry.Blake Griffin had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Jamal Crawford added 21 points to help the Clippers coast to a 102-85 win over the injury-depleted Houston Rockets on Friday night.The Rockets were playing their fifth straight game without Dwight Howard (knee strain) and were also missing two other starters.In the sixth game of a seven-game trip, the Clippers took the lead at the end of the first quarter and didnt trail again. Houston got within 10 points early in the third, but a run by Los Angeles pushed the lead to 18.Coach Doc Rivers was asked what a win like this tells him about his team, which has lost just once on this trip that ends Saturday in Utah.It tells you that their confidence is starting to grow, Rivers said. Ive always thought that when your team has confidence they have energy. They dont get tired. I thought thats what that was (Friday).The Clippers were focused on making things happen from the beginning of the game.I tried to be more aggressive early — getting to the lane, Griffin said. We just did a good job of moving the ball early. Even though they were banged up, I thought it was a good test for us.An alley-oop dunk by DeAndre Jordan made it 94-73 with about six minutes remaining and the starters went to the bench soon after that.James Harden had 16 points to lead Houston. He said they cant blame their injuries for this loss.Theyre a really good team and were down on numbers (but) thats no excuse, he said. We got stops but we just couldnt get a shot to fall.Its the third straight win for the Clippers and theyve won 10 of their last 11 over the Rockets.J.J. Redick added 15 points and Chris Paul had 10 points and seven assists for Los Angeles.Already playing without starting point guard Patrick Beverley, the Rockets lost Isaiah Canaan with a sprained left ankle in the second quarter and he didnt return. With both players out, HHouston had to rely on the 37-year-old Jason Terry for the rest of the game.ddddddddddddCanaan finished with 13 points and rookie Tarik Black, who was filling in for Howard, had 11 points and nine rebounds. Canaan was on crutches and wearing a boot on his left foot after the game and wont make the trip for Saturdays game at Milwaukee.The Clippers led by 10 early in the third quarter before using a 10-2 run to extend their advantage to 68-50. Paul and Redick both made 3-pointers in that span.Crawford scattered cheers from the home crowd when he sunk a long 3-pointer as he fell to the ground late in the third quarter. He was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to push L.A.s lead to 83-65. He had four 3-pointers.The Clippers scored the last seven points of the first quarter to take a 26-24 lead. They used a 9-1 run at the beginning of the second to push the lead to 37-25 about nine minutes before halftime. Houston used an 11-5 spurt, powered by three 3-pointers, after that to cut the lead to 42-36.Jordan had a two-handed dunk late in the second quarter before Terry was called for a flagrant 1 foul for hitting Griffin in the face on his way to the basket. He made both free throws to push Los Angeles to a 56-44 lead at halftime.TIP-INSClippers: Matt Barnes returned to the starting lineup after missing the last two games with a sore left calf. ... Guard Chris Douglas-Roberts remains out with a strained right Achilles.Rockets: F Terrence Jones missed his 12th straight game with nerve damage in his left leg. ... Beverley was out for a third consecutive game with a strained left hamstring.ON THE ROAD: When the Clippers get back to Los Angeles they will have travelled 7,231 miles during this seven-game road trip. That is the second-longest trip by distance that any team in the NBA will travel in a seven-game stretch this season.The road is hard, coach Doc Rivers said. Winning is hard. The fact that were doing it on the road is great.UP NEXTClippers: At Utah on Saturday.Rockets: At Milwaukee on Saturday. 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