CLEARWATER, FLA.—Ricky Romero is done with spring training.

So antsy to be rid of the exhibition season is the Blue Jays’ ace lefty that after his final Grapefruit League start was cut short by a windy downpour, he was already looking beyond the regular season.

“Honestly, I’m sick of going home in October,” Romero said after throwing two perfect innings against the Philadelphia Phillies and Roy Halladay.

Romero said he has looked enviously upon baseball’s perennial powerhouses — the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, “and the Phillies, too” — and how players on those teams carry themselves.

“They know they’re going to win year-in and year-out,” he said. “ ... I want that to be my team. I think we’re ready.”

Romero struck out two in back-to-back three-up, three-down innings before the rain delay. The Jays defeated the Phillies 8-5. Romero simulated an additional three innings indoors at Bright House Field to get up to his scheduled five innings of work. His next start is the season opener Thursday in Cleveland.

“This is the best I’ve felt all spring and I think it’s a good way to end my spring,” he said. “I was sharp with every pitch, just right where I wanted to finish.”

These Jays have already set a club record for spring-training wins and are restless to break camp and get to the games that matter.

“Every single one of these guys,” Romero said, referring to his teammates, “You look at them in the face and they’ll tell you this team can do some special things.”

Neither Halladay nor Romero returned to the game after the rain interrupted the start of the third inning. On whether to stay in the game or not, Romero said he looked to Halladay — as he did three seasons ago, when they were both Jays — for guidance.

“The first thing I asked was if Halladay was done, because if he’s done than I’m done,” Romero said, laughing. “He knows what he’s doing a little bit.”

Now Romero leads the rotation, and he has emerged as an overall clubhouse leader trying to take the team to the next level.

“I’m not a rah-rah guy in here,” Romero said. “I just come in and do my work ... The guy that threw against me today did it the best, he led by example.”

This spring was more about minor tinkering for Romero, refining his curveball, working on a backdoor cut-fastball, trying to improve his overall approach to left-handed batters, and he has had enough of the tinkering. “I can’t wait for opening day.”

Meanwhile, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista both hit their four homers of the spring Saturday while Luis Valbuena — who lost the utility infielder battle to Omar Vizquel and will likely be traded or sent to minors before the season starts — added a two-run shot in the eighth.

Newly cemented left-fielder Eric Thames went 2-2, smashing a double off the wall in the second, and scoring Yunel Escobar on a sharply hit single in the third. Brett Lawrie, Jeff Mathis and Encarnacion drove in additional runs.

The win brings the Jays spring record to (23-5-1) and they remain comfortably atop the Grapefruit League standings.

The Jays have three spring games still to play. They take on the Pirates in Dunedin on Sunday, followed by back-to-back games against Detroit.

All that’s left to be decided is who will be in the starting rotation to start the season. Twenty-four-year-old right-hander Kyle Drabek is the probably choice to break camp as the fifth starter, with Dustin McGowan’s injured foot keeping him on the disabled list. Aaron Laffey is theoretically still in the mix with Drabek, but he did not fare well in his last two starts and appears destined to at least start the season in the minors.

Spring training notebook:

LIND TO RETURN SUNDAY: First baseman Adam Lind will return to the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Phillies after taking a few days off due to lower back pain, an injury that put him on the 15-day disabled list last season. Manager John Farrell said Saturday he was pain free and would resume normal workouts.

MCGOWAN STILL ON MEND: McGowan has yet to pitch since suffering a foot injury in a minor-league game last Sunday. He remains day-to-day, but will not break camp with the team. The Jays have yet to officially name their starting rotation.