Gildenberreich » hance." Fastball command is the name of Hu

CINCINNATI - Reds right fielder Jay Bruce had surgery Monday to repair torn cartilage in his left knee and will be sidelined for about a month. Bruce was scratched from the starting lineup Sunday because of a sore knee but pinch hit and struck out during a 4-3, 10-inning win over Milwaukee. He had tests Sunday night that detected the tear. The Reds have been hit hard by injuries since spring training. Theyre currently missing starters Mat Latos and Tony Cingrani, catcher Devin Mesoraco, closer Aroldis Chapman and now their cleanup hitter. Also, centerfielder Billy Hamilton missed the last three games with a sprained left hand, hurt while he made a diving catch. Hes expected back for a series that starts Tuesday in Boston. Bruce has been in a slump, going 3 for 17 in the last six games. Hes batting .216 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 30 games. Cincinnati opened the season with eight players on the disabled list, the most in the majors. The Reds have started to get many of them back, only to have others get hurt. The Reds took three of four from first-place Milwaukee over the weekend, leaving them 5 1/2 games out in the NL Central. Jonathan Broxton returned from the disabled list in mid-April, completing his comeback from forearm surgery, and taking over as closer. Utility player Skip Schumaker dislocated his left shoulder during spring training but returned over the weekend. Chapman got hit in the forehead by a line drive on March 19 and had surgery to install a plate above his eye. Hes on an injury rehabilitation assignment in the minors and is expected back later this week. Latos had surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee on Feb. 14 and later developed a sore forearm, leaving his return indefinite. Cingrani went on the disabled list last week with a sore shoulder. Mesoraco pulled a muscle in his side and opened the season on the disabled list. He was activated the second week of the season and was Cincinnatis top hitter when he pulled his left hamstring and went back on the disabled list. Rudy Gay Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. The latest from Bob As tweeted by TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie on Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets need to resolve their offseason plans with forward R. Cheap Spurs Jerseys . - The Mavericks built a 12-point lead with 2:50 to play, gave away all but two points of it, and still managed to hang on. http://www.cheapspursjerseys.com/ . Bjoergen pulled away from Swedens Charlotte Kalla on the final straight to win in 38 minutes, 33.6 seconds and defend her title from the 2010 Vancouver Games. Kalla was 1.8 seconds back. Heidi Weng of Norway took bronze. LaMarcus Aldridge Jersey . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. Marco Belinelli Jersey . Messis father, Jorge Horacio Messi, is apparently still under investigation for an alleged 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in unpaid taxes from Messis image rights from 2007-09. Messis public relations firm confirmed Spanish media reports that the state prosecutor has asked for Messi to be dropped from the investigation that began in June 2013.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.dddddddddddd 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." ' ' '