reached when Samardzija dropped the ball for an error while covering first base

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Colby Rasmus drove in two runs, Dioner Navarro hit an RBI double and the Toronto Blue Jays topped the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Friday. Pedro Alvarez doubled twice and scored both runs for Pittsburgh. Rasmus hit an RBI single in the first inning off Gerrit Cole. Navarros double scored Rasmus. Cole struck out two and gave up three hits in two innings. After spending last season with the Chicago Cubs, Navarro signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Blue Jays in the off-season. Navarro, who batted .300 with 13 home runs for the Cubs, said he has been taking extra swings to improve at the plate. His main focus, however, is getting to know the pitching staff. "Every time I get the opportunity, I jump in the cage. But right now its all about the pitchers," Navarro said. "Especially with me coming to a new team (and) seeing a lot of new faces. Its all about them. I will get my swings in. I will do my work." Blue Jays starter Mark Buehrle allowed one earned run in two innings. He gave up two hits, one walk and struck out one. Blue Jays outfield prospect Ricardo Nanita hit an RBI triple in the eighth. Matt Hague hit an RBI single and Gaby Sanchez doubled for the Pirates. Toronto star Jose Bautista, who homered and doubled twice in the first two exhibition games, was given the day off. STARTING TIME Blue Jays: Buehrle threw 43 pitches. He said his command was good overall, but he felt like he had trouble keeping his sinker in the strike zone. "I wasnt happy with how sharp it was today," he said. "I wasnt throwing too many sinkers for strikes. But its the first outing. Things are going to turn and get better as we go along." Manager John Gibbons disagreed and said the left-hander looked better than he did during camp last season. "I thought Buehrle for his first start was really good," Gibbons said. "I told him I thought he was a little sharper in this camp than he was (at the same point) last year. It showed today, thats a good sign." Pirates: Cole had a rocky first inning, giving up three hits and two runs. But the right-hander settled down in the second, striking out Dan Johnson and Ryan Goins and getting Maicer Izturis on a grounder. "I dont overcook their first outing," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of his pitchers. "They need to get out there. They need to reacquaint themselves with adrenaline, mound, rhythm and all that." "I thought Coles second inning was much more effective, just in terms of downhill plane, getting the ball downhill, mixing in the breaking ball." HAPPY TO BE BACK For the first time since sustaining a season-ending forearm injury last May, right-hander Brandon Morrow appeared in a game with the Blue Jays. Morrow allowed two hits and one run in two innings. He said he felt comfortable on the mound and was happy to finally see game action. "I felt great. I felt on time with my delivery," he said. "I was most happy with the life I had on my fastball and did what I wanted to." Navarro said he felt Morrow had strong command of his pitches, despite giving up a run. "He kept the ball down good, threw a couple good sliders and a couple good splitters," Navarro said. "I know people want to see zeroes on the board, but these guys are locating their fastball and then working off the fastball. As spring training goes on, velocity is going to go up." TRAINERS ROOM Sergio Santos was scheduled to appear in relief for the Blue Jays on Friday, but the right-hander was told to stay home after getting a stomach virus on Thursday night. Santos, who was 1-1 with a 1.75 ERA in 29 appearances last season, is expected to return to the Blue Jays on Saturday. His first outing has been rescheduled for March 4 against Philadelphia in Clearwater. Chad Jenkins took Santos place and allowed no hits in one inning of relief. Yadier Molina Jersey . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany. Lou Brock Jersey . Tokarski, a somewhat controversial choice -- with his 10 games of NHL experience and all -- to replace an injured Carey Price in Game Two had a night to remember, turning back a Rangers team that was dominating play from the get-go, outshooting the Canadiens 14-4 in the first period and 37-25 overall. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-matt-carpenter-jersey/ .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen, NFL Editor Ben Fisher, and Isaac Owusu discuss three hot fantasy football topics. Vince Coleman Cardinals Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Michael Wacha Cardinals Jersey . "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. SAN FRANCISCO -- Jeff Samardzija struck out a season-high 10 for his first win since last August, leading the Chicago Cubs past the San Francisco Giants 8-4 on Monday. Samardzija (1-4) allowed six hits and walked none in seven-plus innings. He also had an RBI double during a three-run fourth to help snap his 16-start winless streak. The right-hander entered with six no-decisions in his first 10 outings this year despite leading the majors with a 1.46 ERA. Nate Schierholtz hit his first home run of the season, and Darwin Barney drove in two runs to help the Cubs come back from a 3-1 deficit. Pablo Sandoval homered and drove in three runs for the Giants, who had won four in a row. Sandoval has five home runs and 12 RBIs in his last eight games. Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) gave up four runs and six hits in five innings while filling in for injured starter Matt Cain, who was scratched after exiting his last outing with a strained right hamstring. Petit struck out five and walked none. Left-hander David Huff allowed four runs and seven hits in 1 1-3 innings of relief as the Cubs provided plenty of runs to back Samardzijas long-sought victory. Chicago had lost nine of Samardzijas first 10 starts. He had not won since Aug. 24 at San Diego last season, even though he has allowed more than two runs only twice this year, including Monday. Cubs manager Rick Renteria pulled Samardzija after Angel Pagan singled leading off the eighth. It was the sixth time in Samardzijas career he had at least 10 strikeouts. JJustin Grimm got three outs in the eighth and Neil Ramirez pitched a scoreless ninth.dddddddddddd. That Samardzijas skid ended at San Francisco -- which entered with the best record in the majors -- only made it that much sweeter. The Giants hottest hitter capitalized on two of the few mistakes Samardzija made. After Pagan reached when Samardzija dropped the ball for an error while covering first base, Sandoval singled with two outs in the first to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. The Cubs came back in the third on a solo shot by Schierholtz, a former Giants outfielder. Sandoval put San Francisco up 3-1 with a golf-like swing on a pitch that looked well below the strike zone in the fourth. Samardzija hit a tying, two-out double and scored on Emilio Bonifacios triple during a three-run fifth that put the Cubs in front 4-3. Welington Castillo and Barney each hit RBI singles in the sixth off Huff. Anthony Rizzo and Luis Valbuena each drove home a run in the seventh to extend Chicagos lead to 8-3. Brandon Crawfords RBI single in the seventh accounted for San Franciscos final run. NOTES: The Cubs activated OF Justin Ruggiano from the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Ryan Kalish to Triple-A Iowa. ... Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Cain is progressing well and the team hopes the right-hander will take his next turn in the rotation Saturday at St. Louis. ... Tim Hudson (4-2, 2.13 ERA) takes the mound for the Giants opposite Chicagos Jake Arrieta (1-0, 2.33) on Tuesday. ' ' '