Reiseplan » two-game mini-sweep of Philadelphia leading

ARLINGTON, Texas – Drew Hutchison doesnt dwell when things go poorly, so it should come as no surprise that he isnt basking in the afterglow of his first career major league complete game and shutout. If he is, he isnt showing it. "For the most part its just go out there and compete," Hutchison told TSN.ca. "Thats what I love to do, naturally, is compete. Go against other guys and win." The 23-year-old is coming into his own, navigating through the ups and downs of what he hopes will be his first full season with the Blue Jays. His performance on Friday night was just his second win of the year but a closer look at the statistics suggests Hutchison has been one of the clubs most reliable pitchers. With the nine scoreless innings, his ERA dropped from 4.37 to 3.64. His Fielding Independent Pitching statistic (FIP), which calculates a more accurate portrait of a pitchers ERA based on factors only he can control, dropped from 3.14 to 2.96. "Whatever point you want to make you can twist them and contort them to back you up kind of thing," said Hutchison of statistical analysis. "Good or bad, either way. They are just kind of what they are but if you do all the other things and work hard and compete I feel like everything else falls in line." But his FIP suggests he deserves more than his two wins and has been better than his ERA, which itself is more than respectable. Sometimes games, or certain innings, take on a particular feel. A pitcher gets into trouble and before the damage is done, you can sense it unraveling. With Hutchison that isnt the case. There have been nights when hes struggled, including his second-to-last start against the Angels when he walked four and allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings, but Hutchisons body language always portrays control. "I take a lot of pride in that," said Hutchison. "Sometimes youre just not going to have it. A big focus for me is what separates guys from being good, mediocre and great. It seems like you can watch a great pitcher and you can see they dont have it but they still go eight innings and sometimes they have better nights when they have their best stuff. That to me is something I want to get to that point where I can do that." "Hes got a good arm but hes a pitcher, too, hes not just out there throwing," said manager John Gibbons. "Guys like that, theyre one pitch away from getting out of something. Its the guys who are just rearing back and dont know where its going all the time, those are the guys who are really vulnerable." Hutchison cant remember when he first picked up a baseball. He was pitching by the time he was seven years old but, then again, so are a lot of kids who take turns on the mound between playing different positions. "I just always loved baseball since I was real young," said Hutchison. "Just always just drawn to it." Hutchison, born in 1990 in Lakeland, Florida, started out as a fan of the Atlanta Braves. Who could blame him? The Braves had great teams in the mid-to-late 1990s and the future hurler was drawn to the work of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine as he watched games on TBS. He counts Craig Biggio, Pedro Martinez and Chipper Jones as players he looked up to in his youth. Hutchison, like most big leaguers, excelled at the game from an early age but he has a distinct memory of when he believed he could carve out a career in baseball. "I always believed I could but I think it kind of sank in that I actually had a shot probably in high school," said Hutchison. "I saw some guys who were older than me from our high school get drafted to good Division I colleges and things like that so I knew it was a possibility. I would say the summer before my senior year I really knew, hey, you actually have a chance." Fastball command is the name of Hutchisons game. He can hoof it up there at 94, 95 miles per hour but his career average fastball velocity is 91.7 miles per hour. He has to locate consistently or hell get hit. He was at it on Friday night, throwing first pitch strikes to 21 of 30 Rangers hitters. "I think theres definitely, some of its what youre born with, God given," said Hutchison of his ability to paint the corners. "At the same time you dont just walk out there and throw strikes. You can struggle like anybody else on any given day. Ive always had a good feel for it. Its just kind of how its been." Hutchisons gone at least eight innings in two of his last three starts. On May 6 in Philadelphia, Hutchison had a 5-0 lead headed to the sixth. He coughed it up, capped by a Cody Asche grand slam that followed a two out walk, but because hed pitched efficiently he was able to go back out for the seventh and eighth. He worked three up, three down innings in both. The Blue Jays would win 6-5 in 10 innings. "Those are the type of games, you have to do that for your team," said Hutchison. "To suck up the innings and bounce back and show youve moved on. Once things have happened it doesnt do you any good to think about it. You can only continue to grind and try to get through it. "Games like that, they suck," he continued. "The fact that you went up and you gave up a five-run lead, which is something that should never, ever happen. Especially that late in the game, you should never even let it get to that point but once you do you have to do that." What about goals, aside from the obvious? A 20-win season? "See thats another thing, so much of thats out of your control," said Hutchison. "For me, number one, obviously, is just to stay healthy just because of what happened in the past. In my head I know Im fine. Its not even an issue." Anything else? "I have my goals but theyre something thats just me," said Hutchison. "I dont really get into it with anybody. People would think Im crazy." Tristan Thompson Jersey .com) - The Dallas Mavericks had a five-game winning streak snapped last time out, but theyll try to get back into the winners circle Sunday evening when the Milwaukee Bucks pay a visit to American Airlines Center. Kyle Korver Jersey . LOUIS -- The St. http://www.cavaliersbasketballpro.info/l...valiers-jersey/. The Senators will put the busy off-season and training camp behind them when they open their regular season on the road. They kick things off Friday against the Buffalo Sabres and then head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Saturday. LeBron James Jersey . - Vince Wilfork has played only two career games in Kansas City. Channing Frye Jersey . Lawrie was hit on the hand by Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Cueto in the second inning of Sundays 4-3 loss to the Reds.TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays relied on their big bats in the first two games of their nine-game homestand. The power game was minimized Friday and it proved costly in a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that ended Torontos season-high five-game winning streak. Angels leadoff man Erick Aybar tripled to open the ninth inning and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Raul Ibanez. Ernesto Frieri earned his fourth save to end a choppy, mistake-filled game that at times was not pretty to watch. Torontos bullpen struggled after a five-inning effort from starter Dustin McGowan. Sergio Santos left the game in the seventh with the bases loaded and Steve Delabar followed by walking in a run. Brett Cecil (0-3) was uneven in the ninth as the Blue Jays fell back to the .500 mark. "Thats where weve struggled this year -- throwing strikes out of the bullpen," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "If they beat you, make them hit it to beat you." Toronto (18-18) pumped out 22 runs over its two-game mini-sweep of Philadelphia leading into the opener of a four-game series against the Angels. The Blue Jays scratched out runs where they could on this night, scoring twice on wild pitches and getting another run on a Jose Reyes solo homer. McGowan was hit and miss on the mound and did well to escape with just two earned runs allowed. Santos breezed through the sixth inning but gave up a one-out double to Aybar in the seventh. Aybar moved to third on a groundout and after an intentional walk to Albert Pujols and another walk to Ibanez, Delabar threw four straight balls to Howie Kendrick that were well out of the zone. "It was one of those days where I thought it was right there," Delabar said. "When I released the ball, I thought it was in the zone but it was nowhere close." Mike Trout hit his seventh homer of the season for Los Angeles (17-17). Aybar, meanwhile, was 3 for 5 and is hitting .397 over his last 15 games. "Hes swinging the bat nice, he has confidence up there," said acting Angels manager Dino Ebel. "Hes putting good wood on it and he wants to be the guy ... hats off to him getting that big triple there in the ninth inning." Reyes had three hits and scored twice for the Blue Jays, who were outhit 9-7 in front of 21,383 spectators under the roof at Rogers Centre. Los Angeles starter Garrett Richards was wild at times but turned in a solid performance overall, allowing five hits, two earned runs and two walks while striking out six. "Richards is one of the best young pitchers in the game," Gibbons said. "t;He can overpower you.dddddddddddd He shut down a pretty offence too tonight. So that was the key there. "We were in a position to win, we just didnt win it." Richards second wild pitch in the first inning allowed Reyes to open the scoring. Trout gave the Angels a 2-1 lead with his solo shot in the third inning but another wild pitch from Richards allowed Melky Cabrera to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame. The Angels nearly went ahead when McGowan fired a wild pitch of his own with two outs in the fifth inning. The ball bounced back toward catcher Dioner Navarro, who tagged Ibanezs leg as he slid at home plate. Umpire Angel Hernandez ruled him safe but Gibbons challenged the call and the decision was reversed to end the inning. Reliever Joe Smith (2-0) replaced Richards in the eighth and Reyes greeted him by lashing a pitch that barely cleared the wall in right field. It was the third home run of the year for the Toronto shortstop, who has struggled to find a groove after missing time with a hamstring problem last month. "He looks back," Gibbons said. "Hes feeling good, hes bouncing around. He got off to a slow start with the bat but its coming. He can do so many things." The Blue Jays put the potential go-ahead run at second base later in the eighth but Juan Francisco struck out to keep the game tied. Notes: Ebel, the Angels bench coach, will also serve as skipper on Saturday as regular manager Mike Scioscia is away at his daughters college graduation. ... Toronto slugger Jose Bautista singled in the eighth inning and has now reached base safely in a club-record 36 straight games to open the season. Its the longest season-opening on-base streak since Pujols had a 41-gamer in 2008. ... The game took three hours nine minutes to play. ... McGowan allowed seven hits, two walks and struck out a pair. ... The Blue Jays entered play Friday with five players in the American Leagues top 10 in home runs. Bautista and Colby Rasmus were tied for third spot with nine apiece. Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., and Cabrera were tied for ninth with six homers apiece. Chicagos Jose Abreu leads the AL with 12 homers and Pujols is next with 10. ... J.A. Happ (1-0) is scheduled to start for Toronto on Saturday. Fellow left-hander Tyler Skaggs (2-1) goes for the Angels. ... The challenge in the fifth inning lasted much longer than usual. The unofficial time was three minutes 20 seconds. ... Toronto has hit at least one homer in all 15 home games this season. ... The Blue Jays have dropped eight of their last nine games against the Angels. 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