TORONTO -- Marcus Stroman was nearly unhittable, and his Blue Jays teammates couldnt stop hitting. Stroman gave up one hit over seven shutout innings as Torontos bats pounded Boston Red Sox pitching on the way to a 8-0 victory Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays took three of four games against the Red Sox to move within 2 1/2 games of the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles. Like fellow prospect Aaron Sanchez did over two shutout innings Wednesday night, Stroman (6-2) put on a show that was not only good for an important victory in a division race but tangible evidence of a strong future. The right-hander tamed a dangerous Red Sox lineup with six strikeouts while not giving up a hit until the seventh inning. At the plate, the Blue Jays kept the good times rolling. Since getting blown out by Boston 14-1 Monday in the series opener, theyve scored 20 runs. First baseman Juan Francisco led the onslaught Thursday, going 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Francisco finished a double short of being the third player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. Left fielder Melky Cabrera went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Runs came early and often for the Blue Jays (54-49) against Boston starter Rubby De La Rosa (3-3), whose earned-run average rose from 2.64 to 3.54 with his rough outing that included giving up six earned runs on nine hits in four-plus innings. A couple of walks and a single in the first inning led to Torontos first run when catcher Christian Vazquez was charged with a passed ball that Cabrera scored on. Francisco was credited with a triple to lead off the second, though Red Sox centre fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. got to the ball and couldnt make the catch. Either way, it spelled more doom for Boston (47-55), as Ryan Goins drove in Francisco with an RBI double and scored on one by Cabrera to make it 3-0. After a leadoff single in the third by catcher Dioner Navarro, Francisco blew the game wide open with a two-run home run, his 15th of the season. Hitting Jose Bautista and surrendering singles to Navarro and Johnson marked the end of the day for De La Rosa. Reliever Burke Badenhop gave up Franciscos two-run double that gave the Blue Jays a seven-run lead. All the while, Stroman went about his work with efficiency. The 23-year-old handed out three walks but was otherwise flawless for the first six innings and 91 pitches he threw. Leading off the seventh, Shane Victorino broke up the no-hit bid with a bloop single that just dropped into centre field in front of Anthony Gose. The sellout crowd of 46,683 then saluted Stroman with a nice ovation. Stromans magical day wasnt over, as he managed to get David Ortiz -- who tormented the Blue Jays all week -- to fly out before inducing an inning-ending double play out of Mike Napoli. The rookie finished with 66 strikes on 97 pitches and his sixth career major league victory. The Blue Jays tacked on another run in the eighth as Cabrera doubled to drive in Jose Reyes and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Notes -- Ortiz appeared to tweak his back on a swing in the ninth and left the game. ... The Blue Jays begin a three-game series Friday at the New York Yankees. ... By starting at second base, Bostons Brock Holt became the first player in franchise history to start a game at every position except pitcher and catcher in a season. Jesper Horsted Jersey . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina. Bobby Layne Jersey . -- Rodney Stuckey scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and the Detroit Pistons beat the New York Knicks for the first time in eight meetings, 92-86 on Tuesday night. http://www.custombearsjersey.com/custom-...arge-2816t.html. Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, was elected Tuesday as president of the International Olympic Committee. He succeeds Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years. Bach, the longtime favourite, defeated five candidates in a secret ballot for the most influential job in international sports, keeping the presidency in European hands. Kevin Toliver II Jersey .com) - Mike Conley scored 20 points with five assists to help the Memphis Grizzlies remain unbeaten with a 91-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. Doug Atkins Jersey .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills.PHOENIX - Its not easy to turn the page after being on the wrong side of a 27-point comeback. Theres no manual on regrouping in the aftermath of something like that, mostly because it doesnt happen much. Tuesday was the first time the franchise had suffered such a collapse in its 19-year existence. "We could have stayed here and practiced for 10 hours, but we needed something to refresh our minds," Dwane Casey explained after his team returned to practice at Phoenixs US Airways Center Thursday afternoon. The team bus was en route to the arena the day prior when Casey and his staff called an audible, surprising their players who were expecting to spend the afternoon in the gym. Instead, they stopped a few blocks away for lunch and spent the next few hours at the bowling alley. "It was good for us," Casey said of his teams bonding day, which was planned before Tuesdays "debacle" in Oakland. "Guys got guys in a better spirit, ate lunch, spent time together." "We knew we had two days to prepare for Phoenix. No disrespect to Phoenix and no disrespect to [Fridays] game, because we know we have work to do, but that was the reason why [we took the day off], to refresh the mind, get us juiced up again, clear our minds a little bit and get back to work." Perhaps its just a coincidence, but some of Torontos most encouraging games during the first month of the season have come directly after bonding days or team dinners on the road. They handed it to the 76ers after sharing a meal at Kyle Lowrys house and their victory in Memphis - still their only win against a team currently over the .500 mark - came after Rudy Gay hosted a dinner at his home. "It definitely helps us free our minds [and] takes a lot of tension, a lot of stress off our minds from the previous game," said DeMar DeRozan, who claimed to have bowled a 100, his personal average. The big winner, according to DeRozan, was Aaron Gray with a score of 185. "SSomething like that definitely helps," he continued.dddddddddddd "[To] just bond, really feel normal as a group, just go out there and feel normal and thats what we did yesterday. I think it always helps." It wasnt all fun and games though. The elephant on the lanes was - as you would expect - the teams 112-103 loss to the Warriors, a game in which they were outscored 42-15 in the fourth quarter. "We talked about it yesterday," said Casey. "We flushed it then. Its a long season and one game doesnt define us. Does it hurt? Yes, and it should hurt." Although they watched tape from the loss, Casey didnt make his players sit through the entire fourth quarter. The Raptors coach, however, watched it three or four times. "Last night was the first time I slept [since the loss],” he said. "Its frustrating," DeRozan admitted after re-watching parts of the collapse. "We watched it and we have to continue to learn from our mistakes and understand weve got to play the whole game. Even if were up [by] 50 with two minutes left, we have to finish the game off strong." Back to work Thursday, Casey said the team had a good, hard practice focusing on some reoccurring issues that stood out from watching that film. "Today we worked on screening, timing on screens, waiting for screens and the other [issue] is spacing," Casey mentioned. "We talked about that because that is an issue. Teams are able to clog, double team or whatever and give half a man to those wings if we are not spaced properly." Further to that, ball movement was emphasized once again. The Raptors, who still rank dead last in the league in assists, recorded just one dime in the fourth on Tuesday. Three full days removed from their most embarrassing loss of the campaign, the Raptors will get another shot at snapping their losing skid - which now stands at four - on Friday against the Suns, one of the leagues biggest surprises at 10-9. ' ' '