PITTSBURGH -- Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said he sat awake in his hotel bed Saturday night, thinking about his bullpens recent problems. Brice Butler Jersey . He even addressed his group of relievers Sunday morning. Dustin McGowan made those worries a nonfactor, at least for a day. McGowan pitched three-hit ball for seven innings, Colby Rasmus hit a grand slam and Melky Cabrera added a two-run homer as the Blue Jays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2. "We had to have that one," Gibbons said. McGowan (2-1) allowed one run, striking out five and throwing 101 pitches. It was the second consecutive quality start for McGowan, a diabetic who started wearing an insulin pump on the mound in his last start. "My blood sugar still gets erratic sometimes," he said. "But thats part of the game for me. With the adrenaline going and everything, it does what it wants to do. I cant control it sometimes." McGowan eclipsed the 100-pitch mark for the first time since June 27, 2008. "Thats two outings wearing that pump," Gibbons said. "Maybe theres something to that." It was just the fourth win in 13 games for Toronto, which prevented the Pirates from completing their first series sweep of the season. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle and first base coach Rick Sofield were ejected by plate umpire Greg Gibson at the end of the fourth inning for arguing a called third strike on Jordy Mercer. The strikeout stranded two runners and ended the inning. "I think it was pretty apparent that the low strike wasnt going to come into play," Hurdle said. "But the fact of the matter was it got to a point where I felt a pitch that hadnt been called a strike all day got called a strike in, for me, a very pivotal at-bat for us." Rasmus connected in the second inning for his fourth career slam. He also doubled and singled. The Blue Jays held on to this early lead. Toronto wasted a 5-3, ninth-inning edge in the series opener and a 5-0, fourth-inning advantage on Saturday night. Josh Harrison hit two triples for the Pirates. Edinson Volquez (1-3) gave up six runs and seven hits in five innings. He also allowed six earned runs in his last outing April 21 against St. Louis. Volquez pitched himself into a jam in the second inning before Rasmus stepped to the plate, issuing walks to Edwin Encarnacion and Juan Francisco to start the inning. Brett Lawrie reached on an infield single to load the bases with no outs. Rasmus hit a full-count curveball about 10 rows deep in the right-field seats for his seventh home run of the season, giving the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead. Rasmus said he was not necessarily looking for an offspeed pitch in that situation. "I was just trying to be out over the plate and throw my hands at anything because hes got a good changeup, good curveball and a good two-seamer, and he already tried to thumb me a couple in," he said. "I was just trying to be ready to put something in play." The slam negated an early lead the Pirates built on Neil Walkers groundout, scoring Harrison after his triple. Harrison also tripled in the eighth and scored on Andrew McCutchens sacrifice fly. Torontos Jose Bautista walked in the fifth to reach base in his 31st consecutive game, the longest active streak in the majors. But he went hitless, snapping a career-best 13-game hitting streak. Cabrera had three hits, and extended Torontos lead to 6-1 with a two-run homer off Volquez in the fifth. Rasmus scored another run in the eighth on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro. NOTES: Highly regarded Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman made his big league debut, allowing one earned run and one hit while getting two outs. The Blue Jays selected the 23-year-old Stroman Triple-A Buffalo and optioned OF Anthony Gose. ... The Pirates plan to recall LHP Jeff Locke to start against San Francisco on Monday night. An All-Star last year, Locke struggled in the second half of 2013 and did not make the Pirates opening day roster. ... J.A. Happ (0-0, 4.15) is scheduled to pitch for the Blue Jays at Philadelphia on Monday night. Chad Williams Cardinals Jersey . The 18-year-old centre was the Senators first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot 196-pound native of Salmon Arm, B. Chase Edmonds Jersey . - The Detroit Lions have 13 takeaways this season — three less than all of last season — and the defence isnt the only unit pleased with the performance. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Mason-Cole-Jersey/ . - David Tomasek had two goals in regulation time and was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Belleville Bulls upset the Oshawa Generals 6-5 on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action.There is some irony in the fact that Jason Spezza was finally traded on Canada Day. After all, there had been weeks of speculation that the star centre wasnt enamoured with the idea of playing in a Canadian market. But a few hours after the trade, Spezza wanted to make it clear that he wasnt leaving Ottawa because he couldnt stand the pressure and scrutiny that came with playing in the nations capital. “I dont think thats accurate," Spezza told TSN.ca. "My biggest motivator for a trade was to win. It will be portrayed however they want it to be portrayed, but the last thing I was worried about was coming out and doing interviews in front of my stall.” During the past month, it was widely reported that Spezza put the other Canadian teams on his no-trade list and that his desire was to go south of the border, where he would face less scrutiny. However, Spezza said the fact that most Canadian teams are struggling right now was the biggest reason why he put them on his no-trade list. He is never one to shy away from microphones and says he would welcome playing in a Canadian market again down the road if the opportunity arose. “It was more circumstance than anything of why those (Canadian) teams were on my list. I have one year left on my deal and I wanted to go someplace where I could win a Cup,” Spezza said. The troubling trend for Senators fans, however, is that Spezza is the latest superstar to have a somewhat messy departure from their city. In the summer of 2009, Dany Heatley demanded a trade and ultimately forced the clubs hand into trading him to San Jose. Last summer, Daniel Alfredsson and the organization had a sudden and bitter divorce, prompting the long-time captain to sign with Detroit as a free agent. Now that Spezza has been shipped to Dallas, it only adds to the growing perception that superstars have a short shelf life in Ottawa. But Spezza says the fans in Ottawa arent to blame for a number of players wanting to leave in a short window of time. “Its a fine market for stars, but just like any hockey market, its tough when youre not winning. All three situations are unique. I didnt make my decision because of Alfie and Alfie didnt make his decision because of Heater,” Spezza explained. “We all had our own reasons. There were some similarities, but in the end, each was a unique case.” In some ways, this does appear to be different than the Alfredsson saga from last summer, when the captain abruptly ended his tenure with the club. Spezza appeared to have a more calculated, long-term approach – far less emotional than the course Alfredsson seemed to take. But there is a striking similarity between Alfredssons comments last summer and the ones made by Spezza today. Custom Arizona Cardinals Jerseys. In each case, the captain felt like he had a better chance to win a Stanley Cup with a different organization. “All I can say is my goal is to win a Cup. I think Ottawa has a good chance. They have a good core of young players and a good nucleus. But for me right now, I just felt like Dallas was a great fit,” Spezza added. Spezza said he had discussions with Bryan Murray towards the end of the season and alerted the front office that he likely wasnt going to re-sign a contract extension beyond 2015. And rather than make it awkward for everyone during the 2014-15 season – constantly answering questions about his future – he felt it was best for all parties involved to make a preemptive move this summer. “I didnt have any interest in signing an extension and that kind of hinted to them that maybe it was time to move on. I met with Bryan and had some really good and frank discussions. And I was being honest with them when I said it was best for me and best for them if I moved on,” Spezza explained. Spezza was asked if he knew the regular season finale in Pittsburgh on April 13 would be his last game in a Senators jersey. He scored a brilliant goal in the shootout to secure a Senators 3-2 victory and he admitted, “It wasnt lost on me that it could have been my last goal with Ottawa.” Spezza said he stayed quiet for the past few weeks out of respect for the process, but once Murray told reporters at the NHL GM meetings last month that Spezza had indeed requested a trade, he knew the writing was on the wall. “Once Bryan went public, I knew it was probably done for me there,” he said. (Spezza also went out of his way to point out that he still has a terrific relationship with Murray and holds the Senators general manager in the highest regard). Spezza isnt sure how the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre would react to his appearance when he makes his return to Ottawa on January 29, 2015 in a Dallas Stars jersey, but he does want Senators fans to know that he does not hold a grudge against them – even though he was often seen as a lightning rod for criticism by the fan base. “My time in Ottawa was fond and I know a lot of people are upset," Spezza said. "I would have loved to have the storybook career, where you spend your whole life in one city and play for one team, but thats part of the hard decision we had to make. This didnt just happen overnight and I woke up one morning and said ‘I want to leave. 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