Narrenpost-Kasten » right-field line to give Kansas City a 2-1 lead, its fi

TORONTO - Drew Hutchison was roughed up by the St. 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. Clint Dempsey Jersey . -- Derek Jeter spoke for 25 minutes, 44 seconds and answered 26 questions about his decision to retire at the end of this season. Walker Zimmerman Jersey . -- Two nights after losing to the Eastern Conferences worst team, the Phoenix Coyotes handled the best. http://www.soccerusafansshop.com/Paul-Arriola-America-Jersey/ . Ricciardos exclusion from the results tarnished what had been a day of celebration for local fans, who were jubilant that the Red Bull driver had apparently become the first Australian to finish on the podium at his home race. However just before midnight, stewards ruled that Ricciardos car had "exceeded consistently the maximum allowed fuel flow" and that the team refused an instruction from the races technical delegate Charlie Whiting to change the fuel-flow sensor before the race and a further request during the race to reduce the fuel flow. Darlington Nagbe Jersey . Hall joined Bengals teammates for a voluntary workout on Monday. Hes got his mobility back and is on schedule to be ready for the season. CINCINNATI - Bengals cornerback Leon Hall is happy with his recovery from a torn Achilles tendon and expects to be ready for the start of training camp in July. USA Soccer Jerseys . Consider it received. Attacking on offence early and often, the Penguins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night as Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series.KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Salvador Perez shouted at Hunter Strickland, who shouted right back. The Kansas City Royals streamed from their dugout, the San Francisco Giants from their own. And for a tense moment in the sixth inning Wednesday night, Kauffman Stadium was consumed by chaos.The one thing that was clear? The World Series suddenly had some life.Perez broke open Game 2 with a two-run double in a five-run sixth, and the Royals cast of clutch relievers kept the Giants in check for a 7-2 victory that evened the Series and spiced things up as it shifts to San Francisco for three games.We showed them that we have fight in us, and I think they knew that already, said Billy Butler, whose RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Royals a 3-2 lead. But we stepped up big there as a team, and that gave us some confidence.Jeremy Guthrie will be on the mound Friday night for the Royals, who had won eight straight playoff games before a 7-1 loss in the opener. Tim Hudson will start for San Francisco.With their pitching and our pitching, and the way both teams play, were going to have a fight, I think, every game, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.So much talk of fighting after the two teams nearly came to blows Wednesday.The Royals had surged ahead on Butlers single when Perez followed with a double off Strickland into the left-field gap. Omar Infante then scorched a pitch into the bullpen in left, the fifth homer that Strickland had allowed to 23 post-season batters.Boiling over with anger, Strickland yelled into his glove then got into a shouting match with Perez as the big, burly catcher headed for home. Players spilled out of both dugouts, and several Royals streamed in from the outfield bullpen before the umpires finally restored order.He started to look at me, so I asked him like, Hey, why you look at me? Perez said. So he was telling me, Get out of here, whatever. So I dont know. You dont have to treat me like that. Look at Omar. Omar hit a bomb. I didnt hit a bomb. I hit a double.Strickland said he simply let his frustration get to him.I let the team down, he said. My emotions got to me.With his 100 mph fastball singeing the Giants batters, Royals flamethrower Yordano Ventura allowed two runs while pitching into the sixth inning. The 23-year-old protege of Pedro Martinez hardly looked like the first rookie to make a World Series start for the Royals, calmly handling a lineup that had ravaged staff ace James Shields.The dynamic trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland did the rest.Herrera got the final two outs of the sixth to escape a jam, his first three pitches clocking at least 100 mph. He also survived a shaky seventh bbefore Davis breezed through the eighth.ddddddddddddGreg Holland, who saved each game in the Royals sweep of Baltimore in the AL Championship Series, allowed a two-out single to Brandon Crawford before fanning Gregor Blanco to end the game.The Giants only runs came on a homer by Blanco and a double by Brandon Belt, their streak of seven straight World Series wins ending on a crisp, breezy night.For us to leave here with a split, you like to get greedy, Bochy said, but we know its going to be a tough series.Early on, it looked as if the Giants could have a big lead heading back to the Bay Area.The fleet-footed Blanco silenced a rollicking sea of blue, becoming the 10th player to open a World Series game with a home run. He deposited Venturas 98 mph fastball in the bullpen in right field, just his 17th home run in more than 2,300 at-bats.The crowd, energized from the moment that Hall of Famer George Brett delivered the ceremonial first pitch, was left waiting for something good to happen for the second straight night.This time, the scrappy Royals gave it to them.ALCS MVP Lorenzo Cain stretched a two-out double later in the first, and Eric Hosmer walked on four pitches. Butler, Giants starter Jake Peavys long-time nemesis, then bounced a single past the outstretched glove of Crawford at shortstop to knot the game 1-all.The Royals kept the pressure on in second. Infante doubled over the head of Travis Ishikawa in left field, and Escobar sliced a two-out double down the right-field line to give Kansas City a 2-1 lead, its first in the World Series since Game 7 in 1985.The Giants, so accustomed to October baseball, refused to back down.Belt tied it in the fourth with a double that bounced off Nori Aokis glove in right field.The game was still knotted at 2 when the Royals got their first two batters aboard in the sixth. Bochy pulled the fiery Peavy. Butler promptly hit a go-ahead single off Jean Machi, and Strickland came in two batters later.From there, well, the Royals showed they still had plenty of fight left.PLENTY OF PITCHERSThe Giants matched a Series record by using five pitchers in one inning. The other teams to burn through as many pitchers did so in Game 7 losses: The Cardinals against the Royals in 85, and the Orioles against the Pirates in 1979, according to STATS.UP NEXTGiants: Hudson has appeared in 12 post-season games and started 11 of them, first with Oakland and then Atlanta. But hes never been on the mound in the World Series.Royals: Guthrie, an 11-year veteran, did not pitch in the Royals sweep of the Angels in the ALDS. He made his first career post-season start in the ALCS against the Orioles. ' ' '