TORONTO - Drew Hutchison was roughed up by the St. P.K Subban Canadiens Jersey . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. The first: Hutchison is dominant pitching on the road and has been anything but throwing at Rogers Centre. After Sundays outing in which he tossed only three innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits (two home runs) and one walk in a 5-0 Toronto loss which dropped his personal win-loss record to 4-4, the splits look like this. Hutchison at home: 5 Games Started, 1-3, 8.72 ERA, 7 HR allowed and a 1.892 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP). Hutchison on the road: 8 Games Started, 3-1, 2.03 ERA, 3 HR allowed and a 0.973 WHIP. Both Hutchison and his manager appear to be at a loss to explain the discrepancy. "Obviously I feel the same when I take the mound every time, at home and on the road," said Hutchison. "I just havent executed well here and I havent put together good games." "Some guys are like that, its hard to put a finger on it," said manager John Gibbons. "But you cant pitch him on the road every time … He wasnt very good today. They hit him around a little bit. But hes been pretty good for us." Hutchison is coming off of Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, which was performed in July, 2012. He rehabbed for a full year and pitched briefly at Triple-A late last season and then in the Arizona Fall League. His 75 innings this year surpass, by far, his allotment from the abbreviated 2013 campaign. The Blue Jays are taking care of the 23-year-old. Prior to his last start, a scoreless, seven-inning gem last Tuesday in Detroit, Gibbons gave him a full weeks rest after he struggled in a home start against the Tampa Bay Rays. That leads to the second trend. Hutchison pitches much better when hes had extra rest, five or more days in between starts, than when he pitches on the usual four days of rest to which starters are accustomed. Here are the numbers: Hutchison on four days rest: 6 Games Started, 3-3, 5.94 ERA, 14 walks, 21 strikeouts, 7 home runs allowed. Hutchison on five or more days rest: 7 Games Started, 1-1, 2.62 ERA, 5 walks, 34 strikeouts, 3 home runs allowed. Expect Gibbons to cherry pick spots to give Hutchison extra rest over the course of the season but its difficult to do at the moment due to a lack of off days. Toronto has two more before the All-Star Break, one on Monday, June 16 and another on Monday, June 30. The task becomes easier in August when there are five off days in the month and becomes difficult again in September, when there is only one. By that point, though, the Jays hope to be counting on Hutchison in important games down the stretch. Hutchison, arguably, has been the Blue Jays second-best starter to Mark Buehrle and its likely the club will allow the 23-year-old to work through the ups and downs of a long season. Few are the young pitchers who thrive every time they take the ball. With a long road trip coming up, Hutchisons next two starts are scheduled to be in Baltimore on Friday night and against the Yankees, in New York, on the following Thursday. Dont expect Gibbons to take the ball out of Hutchisons hands on either occasion. LINDS SPLITS Adam Lind is strictly a platoon player these days. Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer is bound and determined to change that. "Im working my butt off to change that because I think he can be just as effective, or almost as effective, off lefties as what he is off righties," said Seitzer. "What happens with lefties and its guys that Ive worked with in past years, they get pounded in by hard stuff and they get to chase stuff and the breaking stuff and secondary pitches in any count." The narrative is that Lind, a left-handed hitter, cannot hit left-handed pitching consistently. The talking point is backed up by his career statistics and the sample size, over nine seasons, is large enough. Lind, versus right-handers: 2,263 plate appearances, .290/.347/.512, 122 home runs, 17 per cent strikeout rate. Lind, versus left-handers: 875 plate appearances, .216/.261/.337, 21 home runs, 25.8 per cent strikeout rate. Manager John Gibbons has worked accordingly this season, relegating Lind to starts against right-handers. Entering Sundays play, Lind had 20 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers for the entire season. "We have a team thats versatile and can do a bunch of different things," said Lind. "I face lefties at the end of the game. I just dont start when they start the game. I get my share of at-bats against those guys." Lind is quick to point out that he often gets the more difficult left-handed challenges. "I dont get the normal starters but Ill take the lefty specialists." Lind faced an old nemesis in Friday nights win over the Cardinals. He drew a full count walk off left-hander Randy Choate, a guy who Lind saw frequently when Choate was with division rival Tampa Bay. He fouled off some tough pitches in that plate appearance. "I played against some lefties at the beginning of the year and had some good at-bats, hit the ball hard, just didnt get a hit," said Lind. "When youre in June and you look back at May you dont remember who you faced and you dont remember what really happened. Its just a statistic now. I get it, thats just how it goes and thats how people are going to look at it over the course of a season." Seitzer, as much a psychological coach as a mechanical instructor, wants Lind to look for pitches out over the plate. He believes positive results will follow. "Thats all it boils down to is breaking that bad wound that hes put in his brain that hes got to get to pitches inside because thats where theyre going to come," said Seitzer. DICKEY ON STROMAN Marcus Stromans curveball has been on full display during his first two big league starts. Hes baffled Royals and Cardinals hitters with the pitch and hes impressed his veteran teammates. "Its his ability to spin the baseball that separates him from other guys," said Dickey. "He can really spin a ball and that takes a lot of arm speed, a lot of God-given, innate natural ability to be able to do that. You cant learn that." Stroman is scheduled to start Wednesday afternoons series finale against the Twins. Teams are developing a book on the 23-year-old, information which will only increase each time he takes the mound. Hitters will make adjustments. Itll be up to Stroman to do the same. "Thats one of the things that makes you successful and able to endure at this level," said Dickey. "Do you have an aptitude where you have the ability to make adjustments quickly? I dont see anything that would lead me to believe he doesnt have that. Hes got a lot of moxie, too. He seems pretty confident out there, which is great." In the spring, general manager Alex Anthopoulos joked that Stroman was the first pitcher hed ever seen blow a bubble in the middle of his windup. Its a common occurrence. "We were on the bench thinking, like, what is Matt Holliday thinking when hes in the middle of his leg kick and a big bubbles in his mouth," joked Dickey. "Hes probably just thinking, Throw the ball. I mean, thats just what you think but everybody has their own little thing." BLUE JAYS SIGN TWO PICKS The Blue Jays signed their fourth and eighth round draft picks from last weeks amateur draft. Right-handed hitting catcher Matt Morgan, an 18-year-old out of Thorsby High School in Alabama, put pen to paper on a contract. He was taken 114th overall. Right-hander Justin Shafer, a 21-year-old whos completed his junior year with the University of Florida Gators, is on board. He was taken 234th overall. Jean Beliveau Jersey .S. Cellular Field on Saturday night, hell not only be returning to where his career began. Brendan Gallagher Jersey . 1 overall pick likes best about football. "Big hits," he said. "Im all about hitting. I dont care who it is." Thats what the Houston Texans are counting on from the South Carolina defensive end after skipping a chance to take a quarterback -- their top need -- with the top pick Thursday night.ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Peyton Mannings mind is on New England, not his neck. When answering a question last week about whether he could still enjoy the playoffs given his previous post-season disappointments, Manning dropped in a phrase that "the light is at the end of the tunnel for me, no question." Meaning, that at age 37 he certainly has more games and seasons behind him than ahead. Following Denvers 24-17 win over San Diego on Sunday that sent the Broncos into the AFC championship, Manning was asked whether a medical exam on his surgically repaired neck following the season, which ESPN reported will determine whether he even plays in 2014, was weighing on his mind. "Its really not," Manning said. "Whats weighing on my mind is how soon I can get a Bud Light in my mouth. Thats priority one." Neither Manning nor the Broncos have any indication whatsoever that Manning wont pass his medical exam in March -- if anything were wrong, he wouldnt be playing right now. And Manning is coming off the best statistical season of his brilliant career, one in which he threw for a record 55 touchdowns and 5,447 yards. But hes not one who likes to look too far ahead anyway, just like he hates going down memory lane or talking about his health publicly. Now, Patriots pass-rushers Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich might be among his concerns this week. But he didnt even want to talk aboout the Patriots following Denvers win over the Chargers, much less about his upcoming medical exams or his football future. Dickie Moore Jersey. "It was an intense game and up and down and a lot of emotions," Manning said. "Even the Patriots is (too far) ahead. And that question is way far ahead. I am not there. This team has been a one-week-at-a-time season. For all weve been through, losing our coach, losing different guys to injury, that approach has served us well and I think we need to keep that approach from here on out." Manning has always said that if doctors had told him after his spinal fusion surgeries two years ago that he shouldnt continue playing football, he would have walked away from the game without regret and that hed do the same if he receives such medical advice down the road. All parties expect him to receive the go-ahead to play next season when he has his medical exam in March, which is just like the one he had after last season. Manning was released by the Indianapolis Colts in March of 2012 after four neck operations that weakened his throwing arm. He signed with the Broncos and has gone 27-7 in Denver with 97 TD passes and 24 interceptions, counting playoffs. The Broncos (14-3) on Sunday host the Patriots (13-4), who havent played on the road in the AFC playoff bracket since losing to Manning and the Colts 38-34 in the AFC title game following the 2006 season. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
