he Oakland As continue to rule the TSN.ca MLB Powe

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TORONTO – Drew Hutchison wants you to know that hes healthy. He will dispel any notion to the contrary when its used to try to explain his inconsistency. “I feel the exact same every time Ive taken the mound this year,” said Hutchison. “Its frustrating because I expect myself not to be inconsistent and thats what I get. Its frustrating.” Hutchisons injury history has been well chronicled. As a 21-year-old, Hutchison was an early season call-up in 2012, less than three years after he was drafted out of Lakeland (Florida) Senior High School. He impressed in 11 starts between April and June, but was lost for the season upon tearing the ulnar ligament in his pitching elbow. He underwent the famous Tommy John reconstruction surgery and returned, pitching in the minor leagues, late last season. This season, hes already surpassed his innings total of last year. The Blue Jays have already negotiated their rotation to afford Hutchison extra rest on one occasion and its likely other spots will be cherry-picked through the year. Hutchison has pitched much better on the road than at home. He has been better on extra rest, five days or more in between starts, than he has been when pitching on the regular four days of down time. He simplified his Sunday struggles, during which he allowed five earned runs in only three innings of work in the Jays 5-0 loss to St. Louis. Hutchison pitched on regular rest. “I made some mistakes and they got hit like they should,” said Hutchison. “I left a change-up up. I hung a slider. Those are pitches theyre going to do damage with. Regardless of anything else, if I throw a hanging slider on two days rest or eight days rest, its going to get drilled.” At home in five starts, Hutchison is 1-3 with an 8.72 ERA, seven home runs allowed and 21 strikeouts to 13 unintentional walks. On the road in eight starts, hes 3-1 with a 2.03 ERA, three home runs allowed and 46 strikeouts to 10 walks. Hutchisons two finest outings of the season occurred away from Rogers Centre. He tossed a three-hit shutout in Texas, outpitching Yu Darvish in a 2-0 win on May 16. Then, on June 3 in Detroit, Hutchison went pitch-for-pitch with Anibal Sanchez. He got a no-decision for his seven scoreless innings, but the Jays got the win when the offence opened up on the Tigers bullpen. The start in Texas was on normal rest. The start in Detroit was on seven days of rest. Yet Hutchisons take on the appearances versus the Tigers is different than the layman observers. “I didnt think I was lights out that start, either, until about the fourth or the fifth,” said Hutchison. “I didnt think I had very good tempo and I didnt think I was locked in.” Hutchison is a command pitcher, at his best when hes working the corners with his fastball and mixing in his slider and his changeup to keep hitters off balance. The modus operandi isnt exclusive to Hutchison, of course, but because he doesnt throw a high-90s fastball, hes less prone to get away with mistakes. If its not about fatigue and it isnt about health, could it be about a 23-year-old still learning the ropes? “I mean, sure, thats fair to say,” said Hutchison. “For me, I dont really look at things that way. Im more take the ball and I expect to give us a good outing every time I go out there, regardless of my age or regardless of what level Im at or anything like that.” Hutchison wants to be reliable and admitted hes angry that hasnt always been the case. Theres frustration at the inconsistency. “Thats been the biggest difference between the good starts Ive had and the bad starts - my rhythm and my tempo has been good in my good starts and it hasnt been in my bad starts, so I think thats something Im more focused on than anything else,” said Hutchison. RASMUS UPDATE Colby Rasmus, on the disabled list since May 13 with an injured right hamstring, has made enough progress that his rehab schedule is becoming better defined. Rasmus continues to perform baseball activities at the Blue Jays facility in Dunedin, Florida and may get into an extended spring training game early this week. The Triple-A Buffalo Bisons are scheduled to open up a four-game series in Toledo, Ohio, against the Mudhens on Thursday. Rasmus will join the Bisons there. Its not yet clear how many games he will play before being activated off the disabled list and rejoining the Blue Jays. . The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. . -- Max Gilbert captured his first pro victory at the Tour Championship of Canada. http://www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Eli ... ls-Jersey/. Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16. . A last-minute leveler ensured the two-time defending champion remained nine points ahead of Roma, which drew 0-0 at bitter rival Lazio in the capital derby.The Oakland As continue to rule the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, taking top spot for the fourth consecutive week, ahead of the Milwaukee Brewer and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, both up one spot. Despite injuries to their pitching staff, the As keep rolling and lead a powerhouse American League West that has three of the top six teams. The Seattle Mariners make the Gillette Move of the Week, up from 12 to six, after winning seven of their last nine games. Pitching has kept the Mariners in the playoff hunt and their 3.26 staff ERA ranks second in the American League, behind only the As. Four straight wins pushes the Minnesota Twins from 23 tto 17, and winning four of five results in the New York Mets rising, from 26 to 21.dddddddddddd Heading the other way, the Toronto Blue Jays are slumping and have lost second baseman Brett Lawrie to a broken hand, so they slide from two to nine. The Atlanta Braves, home of the slumping Uptons, are down from seven to 15, and the reeling Texas Rangers have crashed from 17 to 26, as injuries decimate a pitching staff that was questionable to begin with. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '