DUNEDIN, Fla. -- After watching Esmil Rogers stumble, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons pulled out a baseball maxim. "Some of our top guys are putting together some good at-bats and some things like that," he said. "The key is pitching though. Thats going to take us as far as were going to go this year. Were trying to iron some things out, find out whos going to do what. We want strike-throwers." Rogers, in the mix for the Jays fifth starter, struck out six in his three innings Thursday in a 7-5 exhibition loss to the Houston Astros. But he also walked two and gave up four runs on five hits including two homers. "First inning he was good. Then he was shaky after that," was Gibbons pithy assessment of Rogers performance. "The key to him is throwing enough strikes. He could be a heck of a pitcher when he gets the ball into the strike zone. Weve seen it before, thats where he runs into trouble." With spring training entering its final weeks, the Jays are still looking wondering about their starting rotation. Gibbons pronouncement on pitching, while accurate, is hardly soothing to Toronto fans. Barring injuries, R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow are expected to emerge as the first three starters. Rogers is competing against Drew Hutchison, J.A. Happ, Ricky Romero, Todd Redmond, Kyle Drabek, Marcus Stroman, Sean Nolin and Dustin McGowan for the fourth and fifth spots. Hutchison has drawn praise from general manager Alex Anthopoulos -- "We think Drews got a chance to be outstanding" -- while Gibbons called Romero "the big talk of camp right now." But questions remain. Rogers likely did not do himself any favours Thursday after a 1-2-3 first inning that featured a groundout and two strikeouts. Things went downhill from there. "My pitches were a little bit high," he said. "I lost my control." Teenage shortstop Carlos Correa, a 19-year-old who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, and Jon Singleton hit back-to-back homers for Houston in the third inning off Rogers. Correa then drove in two more runs with a blast to centre in the eighth off Neil Wagner. In between, he made a slick fielding play in the fourth to throw out Brett Lawrie. Rogers said the Singleton homer came off a change-up, a pitch he suggested he might put aside for the time being. Starter Dallas Keuchel pitched four scoreless innings as Houston (7-6) posted its fourth straight win in the spring. The last time the Astros won four in a row in the Grapefruit League was in March 2011. McGowan was the best of the Blue Jays pitchers with two scoreless innings despite not having pitched in 10 days after being sidelined by a stomach bug that saw him lose eight pounds. The only blemish on his outing Thursday was a walk. McGowan still thinks of himself as a starting pitcher but, with only four spring innings under his belt, he is behind others. "Theres what I want to be," he said. "If Im there, great. If Im in the bullpen, also great. Its a win-win situation, I think." Houston went ahead 2-0 in the second on a Cesar Izturis single after Rogers dug himself in a bases-loaded hole with two walks and a single. Lawrie did his bit for the Toronto defence, gunning down Jesus Guzman at the plate before the Izturis hit. The Blue Jays (6-8) scored three in the fifth off Collin McHugh to cut the lead to 4-3. Houston made it 5-3 in the sixth via a sacrifice fly. Houston threatened again when Toronto pitcher Jeremy Jeffress loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs. He struck out one before giving way to Wagner, who struck out another and then escaped the inning when Ryan Goins made an eye-popping fielding play off a ball that flew off the pitchers body. There was action in the bottom of the seventh as Anthony Gose somehow turned a shallow fly ball into a triple when sliding Houston outfielder Adron Chambers was unable to chase the ball down. Kevin Pillar then was drilled by Josh Zeid with the Jays outfielder taking a long look at the Astros pitcher as he left the batters box. Gose scored on a fielders choice when Pillar was cut down stealing second, cutting the lead to 5-4. Gose also scored on a sacrifice fly in the ninth to make it 7-5 after Correas second homer extended the Houston lead. Keuchel has yet to give up a run in nine innings this spring. He scattered six hits over his four innings Wednesday, striking out two with no walks. The game featured half-brothers Cesar and Maicer Izturis, both starting at second base and batting ninth (the older Cesar for Houston and Maicer for Toronto). Toronto outhit Houston 13-12. The contest, which lasted three hours 11 minutes, drew 4,510 to Florida Auto Exchange Stadium on a 15-degree day. 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The Patriots first-team offence, which looked to be in midseason form in its first two exhibition games, was in preseason form Thursday at Ford Field. Tight end Zach Sudfeld and running backs Brandon Bolden and Shane Vereen lost fumbles and Brady was picked off in four of New Englands first five possessions. The other possession was a three-and-out that ended with Zoltan Meskos punt. "The defence set a standard today. We can be one of the better defences (in the league) if we keep working," said Louis Delmas, the oft-injured safety who returned after missing much of the preseason while recovering from a knee injury. He recovered Sudfelds fumble on the games first drive. Brady played four series in the first two preseason games combined, completing 18 of his 20 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in two victories. But in a half of work in Detroit, he was 16 of 24 for 185 yards and the second-quarter interception by Detroit cornerback Chris Houston. "We didnt do anything in the first half other than turn the ball over," Brady said. Detroit starter Matthew Stafford also played the entire first half and helped lead Detroits first team to a better showing than it had in its first two exhibition efforts. The starters played seven series in those games -- a win over the Jets and a loss in Cleveland -- and managed only a pair of field goals. They produced three more field goals from David Akers against the Patriots, but also added Staffords 9-yard touchdown toss to a diving Tony Scheffler in the end zone that gave the Lions a 10-0 lead 2 minutes into the second quarter. Akers first field goal, a 23-yarder, was set up by a 67-yard catch and run by Reggie Bush, who was a big factor in the passing game. Bush, the multi-purpose back brought in to provide a spark for Detroit this season, ran for only a single yard on six carries, but he had five catches for 103 yards. Stafford finished 12 of 25 for 166 yards, but had to play again without his top target, Calvin Johnson. The star wide receiver also missed last weeks game in Cleveland, larrgely as a precaution.dddddddddddd He has been bothered by a bruised knee. Johnson, who caught three passes in Detroits preseason opener Aug. 9 against New York, is expected to be ready to go once the regular season gets starts in two weeks. "We were down a big playmaker in our offence tonight and our defence knew that, showed up and played great," Stafford said. "Its about the team, man." Kellen Moore, who backed up Stafford in Shaun Hills absence, led the Lions on a touchdown drive to open the second half, throwing a 22-yard scoring pass to tight end Joseph Fauria. That score, which gave the Lions a 23-3 lead, was sandwiched by Akers field goals of 49 and 47 yards. Hill sat out the game to rest as he did this week in practice. Moore threw another TD pass, a 15-yarder, to wideout Micheal Spurlock in the fourth quarter. Another of Detroits key free-agent signings, defensive end Jason Jones, had a big game for the Lions, sacking Brady twice and recovering a fumble. Fellow linemen Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and first-round pick Ezekiel Ansah also made their presence felt, stuffing New Englands ground game and pressuring Brady throughout the first half. "Those guys make my job easy," Detroit linebacker Stephen Tulloch said. "They disrupt everything." Ryan Mallett directed the Patriots for the entire second half with New Englands coaches opting not to play third-stringer Tim Tebow. A contingent of fans at the game broke into a "We want Tebow!" chant. The former Heisman Trophy winner has passed poorly but run well in the preseason and is not considered a lock to make the team. Asked why he only played two quarterbacks, Patriots coach Bill Belichick responded with: "Because I only played two quarterbacks." Both teams need to get down to the NFL-mandated 75 players by Tuesday. The Patriots finish the exhibition schedule Aug. 29 against the New York Giants, while the Lions play at Buffalo that evening. The final cut to 53 comes two days later. NOTES: Detroit special teams ace Montell Owens fell to the turf without being touched during a second-quarter rushing attempt and had to be helped off the field after several minutes. He did not return. ... WR Kenbrell Thompkins led the Patriots in receiving with eight catches for 116 yards. ... Lions rookie punter Sam Martin had a 57-yard boot late in the first half that landed at the 5 before making an abrupt left turn and dribbling out of bounds inside the 1. ... A 9-yard pass from Mallett to RB James Develin accounted for New Englands lone TD. Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Gear Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap NFL Hoodies Camo China NFL Jerseys ' ' '