1 1/2-mile high-banked track was ready

TORONTO -- Blue Jays rookie Marcus Stroman always wanted a sinker in his pitching repertoire but he could never find a grip to his liking. That all changed a couple months ago when he finally found something that worked. "I was just fooling around with the ball and just gripped a two-seam kind of awkwardly and it was super-comfortable in my hand," Stroman said. "The next day I came to the ballpark and started throwing it. Ever since then, Ive been throwing it." That sinker has become one of his go-to weapons and it was on full display Monday as Stroman threw his first career complete-game shutout in an 8-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs. Stroman (10-5) allowed only three hits and struck out eight in the opener of a three-game series at Rogers Centre. "It doesnt get any better than that," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "It really starts, you know, hes commanding that fastball, I thought his breaking ball for a couple games kind of deserted him a little bit but it was back there tonight ... it was a dominating performance." Stroman, who threw 66 of his 93 pitches for strikes, became the first Toronto rookie to win 10 games since Ricky Romero won 13 games in 2009. Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning as eight different Blue Jays scored a run apiece. Bautistas no-doubt blast was his 32nd homer of the season and 200th of his Blue Jays career. "Im very proud and honoured to have done it here," Bautista said. "Im just really happy but I think Im going to enjoy this one -- again, just like I always say with personal goals -- more in the off-season than anything. "We have a bigger goal that were focused on right now and thats trying to make the playoffs." Toronto (74-69) started the day five games out of a wild-card spot. Jacob Turner (5-9) shouldered the loss for Chicago (64-80), losers of four straight. Stroman gave up a single to Jorge Soler in the second inning and retired 19 straight before allowing a single to Mike Olt in the eighth. "It was awesome, it was fun," Stroman said. "Me and (catcher Dioner Navarro) were on a pretty good roll, I had all my pitches working, locating pretty good and I was down in the zone." Navarro, Adam Lind and Kevin Pillar had two hits apiece for the Blue Jays, who outhit Chicago 12-3. Stromans performance was the first complete-game shutout since Drew Hutchisons win over the Texas Rangers on May 16. "Stroman was very, very good," said Cubs manager Rick Renteria. "Very aggressive, attacked the strike zone, first-pitch strikes were very high with him. Good life to his pitches, threw very, very well. He did a great job." Stroman was given a scare after throwing his second pitch of the night. Leadoff man Chris Coghlan lashed a fastball back to the mound that just missed Stromans head. The ball deflected off his glove and bounced to shortstop Jose Reyes, who made the throw to first in time. Stroman came up smiling after dusting himself off and went on to retire the side in order. "That was the first time Ive ever had a ball hit like that back at me," Stroman said. "Praise the Lord I got out of the way. Just pure reaction. It ended up being a (complete game), I could have been out after the second pitch of the game." Stroman showed his athleticism in the third inning. Logan Watkins hit a slow grounder near the mound that Stroman backhanded before turning in the air and making an off-balance throw that was just in time for the out. Toronto scratched out a run in the second inning and added another in the fourth when Edwin Encarnacion led off with a single before moving to third on Linds flare to right field. Navarro hit a sacrifice fly to deep centre field that easily scored Encarnacion. In the fifth, Ryan Goins and Anthony Gose reached on back-to-back singles before Bautista turned on a 2-1 pitch that landed in the second deck. "Hes on some kind of roll but you guys have all seen that before," Gibbons told reporters. "Hes one of the top hitters in the game. I mean hes been that way for a few years now." The Blue Jays scored a single run in the seventh inning and added two more insurance runs in the eighth. Announced attendance was 16,879 and the game took two hours 20 minutes to play. Notes: Goins provided a highlight-reel play to end the game by barehanding a chopper and throwing Javier Baez out at first base. ... Bautista is fifth on the franchise list for home runs hit as a Blue Jay. George Bell is next with 202 and Carlos Delgado owns top spot with 336. ... Bautista has 243 career homers in all. ... Stroman threw nine innings in a 3-2 win over Detroit on Aug. 9 but settled for a no-decision. That game was tied at two when he left and the Blue Jays won it in the 10th. ... Toronto will send left-hander Mark Buehrle (11-9, 3.34 ERA) to the mound Tuesday night against right-hander Jake Arrieta (8-5, 2.81). ... This is the fourth series between the teams and third to be played at Rogers Centre. Chicago won two of three when the teams last met here in June 2008. ... Both clubs are well back in their respective division races. Toronto entered play 10 games behind Baltimore in the A.L. East while last-place Chicago entered play 15 games behind St. Louis in the N.L. Central. ... It was the opener of a six-game, seven-day road trip for the Cubs. Chicago gets an off-day Thursday before starting a three-game series at Pittsburgh. Toronto is also off Thursday before continuing its six-game homestand with a weekend series against Tampa Bay. Puma Mens Australia . -- Houstons All-Star tandem of James Harden and Dwight Howard refused to let the Rockets give in to fatigue. Puma Australia Sale . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.wholesalepumaaustralia.com/ . Down 2-1 after Rick Nash scored on a penalty shot, the Oilers ran off four unanswered goals in the remainder of the second period on the way to a 6-3 victory on Sunday. Cheap Puma Shoes Australia . Needing to bulk up on both sides of the line, the Falcons agreed to terms with guard Jon Asamoah, defensive end Tyson Jackson and defensive tackle Paul Soliai. Asamoah and Jackson played last season with Kansas City, where Asamoah lost his starting job. Puma Clearance Sale .com) - The disappointing Ottawa Senators hope to record consecutive wins for the first time since early November, as they visit the Boston Bruins on Friday for the opener of a home-and-home series.FORT WORTH, Texas -- With a significant lead and the laps winding down, Joey Logano kept thinking about getting to the white flag. Less than a half-lap from finally seeing that wave at Texas on Monday, a caution changed everything -- though only for a few extra laps. "My heart dropped. I got really angry instantly," said Logano, who was in the third turn on the 333rd of 334 scheduled laps when the caution happened. "Youve got to go out there and win at that point, figure out how to do it." Logano still got the victory, just in a more exciting fashion. He passed Jeff Gordon on the last of 340 laps after a green-white-checkered finish in the Sprint Cup series version of overtime. When Kurt Busch slammed into the wall, spewing debris on the track, Loganos 2.2-second lead over teammate Brad Keselowski was gone and he didnt get to take the white flag that would have guaranteed no extra laps. On the ensuing pit stop, Gordon took only two tires and exited first. Both Team Penske drivers took four tires, and Logano got a splash of fuel. But Keselowski missed a chance to become this seasons first two-time winner when he was penalized for speeding on pit road and finished 15th. "I was just trying to get a little too much on pit road," Keselowski said. "Were in it for wins. Were not in it for second. Second or 15th is the same for us." The 23-year-old Logano got his fourth career victory, and Jeff Gordon took over the series point lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had an early crash. "He crossed over and got into the back of me pretty good," Gordon said of the last lap with Logano. "At that point, I was just thinking, I just want to finish. Looked out my mirror, those guys were racing hard behind me. A great, great second-place finish for me." Here are five other things that happened in the rain-delayed race at Texas: 7 WINNERS FOR 7 RACES: Logano became the seventh different winner in as many Sprint Cup races this season, when new rules for the championship Chase put an increased emphasis on winning. Team Penske joined Stewart-Haas Racing as the only teams with multiple winners this season. JUNIORS MISTAKE: Earnhardt finished last for the first time in seven seasons with an early mistake that also made aa long day for Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson.dddddddddddd Only 13 laps into the race, Earnhardt drove his No. 88 Chevrolet halfway into the rain-saturated infield grass before it shot across the track and slammed into the wall in a fiery crash. Debris and mud from that damaged Johnsons windshield and front left side. "It was kind of surreal what happened," said Johnson, who later had a right rear tire issue and finished 25th. Earnhardt tweeted: "That wasnt fun. Sorry 2 the fans of the 88 team. Feel bad for my guys and the 48 team also. Made a mistake there that was costly for every1." The last time Earnhardt finished 43rd was the 2007 fall race at Phoenix -- a span of 222 races. HARVICKS BLOWN ENGINE: Kevin Harvick has finished 36th or worse in four of the five races since winning at Phoenix the second week of the season. He started third at Texas, but completed only 28 laps because of a blown engine right after a restart and wound up 42nd. "Its frustrating. I dont know what else I can say," Harvick said. "I didnt get any indication that anything was going wrong." FLAPPIN IN THE WIND: The race started with 10 caution laps to make sure the 1 1/2-mile high-banked track was ready for racing after being postponed Sunday by rain. There were jet dryers on the track during those laps, and the high-pressure air from those affected the hood and roof flaps on several cars. Keselowski made four trips down pit road after his hood popped up and his crew made repairs. "It was one of those freak deals," Keselowski said. Gordon said one of the jet dryers "about blew all of us over." NASCAR put all the cars in their original starting spots. "Im not sure whats more odd, if that happened or NASCAR allowed those guys to repair that thing," Gordon said. "Had a piece of concrete fly through my car once at Martinsville. I dont ever remember them letting me repair the car." STEWART LEADING: Tony Stewart was the polesitter and led laps for the first time season, and not only the first 10 laps during that competition caution to start the race. He 74 of the first 76 laps, and went on to a 10th-place finish. Those also made him the career leader for laps led at Texas Motor Speedway with 801. ' ' '