BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) _ Jason Schmidt tuned up for his opening day start by pitching shutout ball for his second straight spring start and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 Wednesday.

Schmidt, who starts Monday night against Houston, limited Toronto to four hits and struck out seven in seven shutout innings. In his previous start Friday, he yielded two hits in six shutout innings against Atlanta.

``It's nice to do well in the last start, but I've never seen any connection between how well you do down here and how well you do during the season,'' said Schmidt, who allowed three runs in 21 1-3 innings. ``Spring training is spring training.''

Chad Hermansen and Wil Cordero hit solo homers as the Pirates (15-10-1) won their fourth in a row to assure themselves of a winning spring record.

Hermansen hit his first homer of the spring in the second inning off Kelvim Escobar, a converted reliever who allowed three runs and seven hits in four innings. Brian Giles followed with a run-scoring single.

Cordero, the Pirates' only major offseason acquisition, added his second homer this spring in the third inning.

``I thought Escobar didn't really get into it, with his stuff, until his last inning,'' Blue Jays manager Jim Fregosi said. ``But he was up around 90 pitches and that's a little too late to hit your groove.''

Both teams cut their rosters, with the Pirates reaching the 25-man limit by releasing left-hander Pete Schourek and his $2 million salary and reassigning first baseman Ivan Cruz, right-hander Mike Garcia, infielder Abraham Nunez, left-hander Jeff Wallace and catcher Randy Knorr to their minor league camp.

Left-hander Jason Christiansen made the staff despite a spring-long bout with back spasms that limited him to one appearance. He will pitch in back-to-back games Thursday and Friday to make certain he is healthy.

Right-hander Rich Loiselle, who hasn't pitched all spring following arm surgery, will go on the disabled list Sunday.

Wallace has made seven successive scoreless relief appearances, but the Pirates kept Peters because he is out of options.

The Pirates unexpectedly released Schourek after he apparently won the fifth starter's job by allowing two runs in six innings Tuesday against a Minnesota split squad.

``We're getting better now, and we're sending guys down who can play in the major leagues,'' manager Gene Lamont said. ``As you get better, that happens.''

The Blue Jays claimed right-hander Mike Kusiewicz off Minnesota's roster, officially purchased the contract of outfielder Marty Cordova, released earlier by the Red Sox, and designated outfielder Anthony Sanders for reassignment.