TORONTO -- Rookie right-hander Marcus Stroman continues to sparkle for the Blue Jays. The 23-year-old blanked Texas for seven innings and Dan Johnson drove home two runs as Toronto held on to defeat the lowly Rangers 4-1 Saturday afternoon. Stroman has held opposing teams to three earned runs or less in eight of his nine career starts. And he bounced back from that lone subpar outing -- when he gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings last time out -- with a gritty outing that got better as the day wore on. The five-foot-nine 185-pounder has blanked two of his last three opponents. "Since hes been here, hes been really good -- especially for a young kid," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "You guys all know the arms there. But hes a lot more polished than I thought he was going to be. And he has a way of dialling it up at crunch time. "He got into a little jam there (in the fourth inning), got a couple of big punchouts after it was first and second no outs. Thats what hes capable of. ... Hes just a great competitor with a great arm. He pitches to win. Hes not worried about anything else but winning a game and it shows." After spending time in the bullpen, Stroman has gone 4-2 as a starter with a 2.50 ERA. The 2010 first-round pick kept the Rangers to four hits during his stint, striking out five with no walks while throwing 107 pitches including 70 strikes. After giving up back-to-back singles to open the fourth inning, he retired 12 straight with four strikeouts. "That definitely pumped me up going into the next inning ... That was huge," Stroman said of the fourth-inning escape. "Definitely a momentum shift." Stroman said it was all about raising ones intensity. "I feel like Im really able to get in the zone when I need to, and really focus and make big pitches on crucial counts. That was one of those moments and it was big. It was big for the team, it was big for us to kind of get us going." Toronto, which outhit Texas 12-6, survived the bases loaded with two outs in the eighth inning thanks to a Dustin McGowan strikeout -- his third of the inning -- of Jake Smolinski. "It got a little hairy there at the end," Gibbons acknowledged. Left-hander Aaron Loup, rather than right-handed closer Casey Janssen who was laid low by either food poisoning or a bug, pitched the ninth for his third save. An opening walk was negated by J.P. Arencibia hitting into a double play before Rougned Odor flied out. After dropping the series opener 5-1, Toronto (50-48) came into the game having lost three straight and nine of its last 11. "We desperately needed that today," Gibbons said of the win. Despite snapping an eight-game losing streak with Fridays win, the numbers were still ugly for injury-plagued Texas. The Rangers (39-58) came into Saturdays contest 2-12 in July and had lost 14 of 16 and 22 of 26. Texas winning percentage of .406 was worst in the majors. Misfiring at the plate in recent days, the Jays looked to find runs any way they could before a sellout crowd of 45,802 under the roof at Rogers Centre thanks to rain. Centre-fielder Colby Rasmus showed that in the fifth when, facing a shift, he bunted down the empty third-base line to get on base. That led to some jawing with Texas starter Colby Lewis. "Everybody saw it," Lewis said. "Youre up by two runs with two outs and lay down a bunt. I dont think thats the way the game should be played. I let him know and that was about it. "I just told him I didnt appreciate it," he added, accusing Rasmus of "looking out for batting average." The Jays saw it more as scratching out offence. "Sometimes youve got to force some things," said Gibbons. Toronto, outscored 18-4 in their three previous losses, looked to steal bases, sacrifice and take advantage of any fielding hesitation by the Rangers to get on base and advance runners. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didnt but the home side scratched out enough offence to win. Stroman and Lewis were both coming off rough starts, coincidentally on consecutive days against the Angels. Lewis coughed up 13 runs in 2 1/3 innings, raising his ERA to 6.54 from 5.51. Lewis (6-7) pitched five innings, giving up two runs on eight hits. He struck out five and walked three. Both teams feature patchwork rosters due to the injury bug, with seven active catchers between them. The Rangers injury woes grew Saturday when right-fielder Alex Rios sprained his right ankle in his first trip to the plate. Rios, a former Jay, was unable to continue his at-bat and left the game. He was replaced by Daniel Robertson. X-rays were negative and Rios was listed as day-to-day. It was also a painful first inning for Jays catcher Dioner Navarro, who fouled a ball off the top of his shin but was able to continue. The Jays opened the scoring in their half of the fourth with Johnson doubling home Rasmus, who had singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a wild pitch. One out later, Johnson went to third on a successful Anthony Gose bunt. Munenori Kawaskis infield single made it 2-0, with Toronto leaving two on the bases. Toronto added to its lead in the seventh on consecutive singles by Cabrera, Bautista and Navarro. After Rasmus reached first on a fielders choice, Johnson brought Bautista home on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. Brett Cecil and McGowan followed Stroman in the eighth, when the Rangers finally got on the board via an Elvis Andrus RBI single. Cecil had opened the inning by yielding a walk and a single. McGowan seemed to have the situation in control when he struck out the ever-dangerous Adrian Beltre with two outs. But Beltre made it to first base to load the bases thanks to a Navarro passed ball and McGowan found himself needing another out. The Jays have won six of their last seven series against the Rangers in Toronto. Saturdays win gave them a chance to make it seven of eight. Cheap Arizona Coyotes Jerseys . Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 after opening with a 77 -- his worst score of the season -- on TPC San Antonios AT&T Oaks Course. Lefty was 11 strokes behind leader Steven Bowditch, the Australian who had a 67 to reach 8-under 136. Cheap Coyotes Jerseys China . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. http://www.cheapcoyotesjerseys.com/. On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Wholesale Coyotes Jerseys . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Cheap Adidas Coyotes Jerseys . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Scott Cullen looks at a night of shutouts in the NHL playoffs, with notes on Beau Bennett, Paul Martin, Brandon Dubinsky, Tyson Barrie, Vladimir Tarasenko, the goalies and more. PENGUINS RALLY Things were looking pretty good for the Columbus Blue Jackets, leading 3-1 just over a minute into the third period, but then the Pittsburgh Penguins mounted their comeback, scoring three unanswered goals, to escape with a 4-3 win and take a 2-1 lead in the series. There were a couple facets of the Penguins comeback that were interesting. First off, Pittsburgh outshot Columbus 15-5 in the third period, 14-1 over the first 12:06 the period, and while score effects account for a change in possession numbers, the Penguins controlled play the exact way that a team should when attempting to mount a comeback. Over a span of 2:13 in the third period, the Penguins scored three goals on three shots, with Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak and Jussi Jokinen getting credit for the goals. With Brooks Orpik scoring the first goal for Pittsburgh, they managed to earn a 4-3 win despite no goals from any of their top four goal scorers (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz) during the regular season. to be fair, the Penguins big guns dominated possession, with Crosby, Kunitz, Malkin, Neal and Jokinen all finishing with a Corsi% of at least 69.7%. Pittsburghs supporting cast has been playing big roles in this series. Winger Beau Bennett added a couple of assists and now has four points (1 G, 3 A) in three games and was one of three Penguins forwards to play less than 10 minutes. D Paul Martin recorded two assists for the third straight game, while playing a game-high 28:34. Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky had a strong game for Columbus, picking up a couple of assists and nearly tied the game in the final seconds with a slick toe drag move around Martin followed by a strong drive to the net. The third period was exactly what the Blue Jackets should fear from the Penguins. When Pittsburgh turns up the heat, they can play at a higher level than the Blue Jackets and that puts a lot of pressure on G Sergei Bobrovsky if Columbus isnt at least competitive in terms of possession. GREAT GRANLUND The Minnesota Wild dominated Game Three territorially, but still needed overtime to emerge victorious against the Colorado Avalanche, taking a 1-0 win in Game Three and cutting Colorados series lead to two games to one. The winning goal, and the games only goal, was a brilliant effort from Wild C Mikael Granlund, who eluded Avalanche D Jan Hejda on the right wing boards, drove to the net, past C Mark-Andre Cliche, and tucked the puck around Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov. Granlund has been a strong performer, with a 54.3% Corsi% in the series, but his goal was his first point in the three games. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov was spectacular, stopping 45 of 46 shots and nearly stealing the game for Colorado. Coming into the series, Varlamov was the one advantage that the Avalanche could lean on, but its asking a lot for a goaltender to make the difference for a team that gets outshot 46-22. Darcy Kuemper, taking over for Ilya Bryzgalov in the Minnesota net, stopped all 22 shots for the win; pretty surethat ought to earn him another start. Wild LW Matt Cooke is due for another suspension after delivering a blatant knee-on-knee hit to Avalanche D Tyson Barrie and the Avalanche already know that they are going to be missing Barrie for the next 4-6 weeks.dddddddddddd With Barrie out, Nick Holden played a career-high 28:04 for the Avalanche, and he may be asked to handle more minutes in Barries absence. Stefan Elliott may be next in line to join the Avalanche defence for Game Four, as Cory Sarich is still dealing with back spasms and Ryan Wilson has played sporadically, especially in the second half of the season. With Cooke expected to be out, Kyle Brodziak or Stephane Veilleux could return to the lineup. Given how thoroughly the Wild dominated play in Game Three, and the significance of the Tyson Barrie injury, this series is far from over. BLACKHAWKS ON THE BOARD Blackhawks G Corey Crawford stopped all 34 shots he faced, outdueling Blues G Ryan Miller in a 2-0 Chicago win that cut St. Louis series lead to two games to one. Chicago scored an empty-netter with 20 seconds remaining in the third period, so the only shot that beat Miller was a wrist shot by Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews 4:10 into the game. With Blackhawks D Brent Seabrook suspended, Sheldon Brookbank stepped into the Chicago lineup, playing 14:32 and paired frequently with Duncan Keith, but his 38.5% Corsi% was the lowest among Chicago defencemen. For the Blues, C Patrik Berglund returned to the lineup, but the top line adjusted to David Backes absence by moving Alexander Steen to centre and then bumping Steve Ott to left wing. Ott played 20:05 and was one of six Blues to have at least two-thirds of possession at 5-on-5. Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko was outstanding, a plus-16 Corsi (20 for, 4 against) for the game, while the Blues were a net plus-1 (32 for, 31 against) Corsi when Tarasenko was off the ice. Chicago needed to win Game Three to have a chance in the series, and while they might not count on Crawford to win the goaltending battle too often, he did it Monday night. STARS BLANK DUCKS Returning home down two games to none, the Dallas Stars faced a must-win situation in Game Three, and G Kari Lehtonen backstopped them to a 3-0 victory, stopping 37 shots. If there was one clear area in which the Stars might hold an advantage in this series, it is that Lehtonen has more of a track record than Ducks rookie Frederik Andersen. Jamie Benn, Valeri Nichushkin and Ryan Garbutt scored for the Stars, with Garbutt leading the Stars with six shots on goal. The Ducks got the better part of the possession game, ultimately, led by C Mathieu Perreault, who was plus-15 (19 for, 4 against) for a Ducks team that ended up as plus-9 in terms of Corsi. Ducks winger Devante Smith-Pelly, skating with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on the top line, had 10 hits and a 62.5% Corsi%. The big issue for the Ducks coming out of this game was the loss of D Stephane Robidas, who had played more than 20 minutes a game for the Ducks since he was acquired from Dallas, but suffered a leg fracture that will end his season. Robidas had fractured the leg on November 29 and returned to action March 18. His absence creates an opening for either Luca Sbisa or Mark Fistric. This is another series in which the underdog has a chance, but needed the Game Three win to even harbour hopes. Now, the Stars have hope and Anaheim losing a top-four defenceman doesnt diminish the odds of the Stars making a comeback. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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