Meckerbox : Alles was Euch nervt » Romero has been positive

Drew Hutchison takes to the mound tonight when the Toronto Blue Jays continue their series with the Kansas City Royals at Kaufmann Stadium. Khalen Saunders Super Bowl Jersey . Hutchison is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in five starts and has recorded three straight no-decisions and tossed six innings of two-run ball with nine strikeouts in last Thursdays 11-4 loss to Baltimore. Hutchison has been reached for just four runs in his past three starts and won his only career start against Kansas City on April 21, 2012. He gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 9-5 win. The Blue Jays will be without third baseman Brett Lawrie in the lineup tonight, Juan Francisco will take his place. The Blue Jays have lost five of their last six games and reliever Brett Cecil was dealt the loss after Kansas Citys big inning. Sergio Santos allowed three runs in relief and starter Dustin McGowan was reached for three runs -- two earned -- in six innings. "We just got hit tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of his relievers. Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion both homered for Toronto. Melky Cabrera, who was 2-for-5 with two RBI, has 41 hits this season, the most by a Blue Jays player before May 1 in team history. The Royals will counter with Yordano Ventura, who is coming off eight scoreless innings of a 5-0 win at Baltimore last Friday, striking out eight batters to go along with two walks. Ventura lasted just four innings and gave up four runs in his previous start and is 2-1 with a 1.80 earned run average in four starts. The young right-hander has never faced the Blue Jays and is 0-1 in two starts at home. Kansas City had a six-run eighth inning thanks to a two-run double by Salvador Perez and a two-run single from Omar Infante. Jarrod Dyson and Norichika Aoki provided RBI hits in the big inning for the Royals, who have won two straight and three of four games. "We never give up. Thats the motto in here is to never give up and to always play like were in it," Dyson said. Perez also homered and finished with four RBI. Aaron Crow threw a scoreless eighth inning for the win and Jason Vargas was bailed out for the no-decision after he permitted five runs and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Toronto won four of six games against Kansas City a year ago and is 10-5 in the past 15 matchups between the two clubs. Xavier Williams Super Bowl Jersey .com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. Juan Thornhill Super Bowl Jersey . Last July, F1 teams held in-season testing sessions at Silverstone to assess new tires provided by Pirelli after several blowouts on the same circuit at the British Grand Prix in June prompted a furious response from drivers and even a boycott threat the following week. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth-Mitchell-Schwartz-Chiefs-Jersey/ .Y. - Terry and Kim Pegula have no immediate plans to tinker with their new NFL team. DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Ricky Romero is headed back to the minors. One day after being shelled by the Detroit Tigers, the former Opening Day starter and fellow pitcher Marcus Stroman were sent to the Blue Jays minor league camp. Toronto manager John Gibbons said both pitchers needed more work. Gibbons tried to soften the blow for Romero, saying the 29-year-old left-hander had pitched well earlier in the spring and was moving in the right direction after two troubled seasons. "We really like what he did this camp," Gibbons told reporters Wednesday prior to a Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies. "Just go down there and polish it up." Stroman, a 2012 first-round draft choice who pitched in Class-AA last season, managed just one out in Tuesdays 18-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The 22-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs on six hits. "He was kind of the odd man out," said Gibbons. "He had trouble throwing strikes (Tuesday). Hes got to do that." Romero, who is due to make US$7.75 million this season, walked five and threw two wild pitches in 2 2/3 innings. Unofficially he threw 57 pitches, 23 for strikes. Gibbons said Romero needs to do "whatever it takes" to throw strikes. He was an all-star in 2011 when he went 15-11 with a 2.92 earned-run average. In 2012, he slumped to 9-14 with a 5.77 ERA and things got worse in 2013, when he saw action in just four games in the majors with an 0-2 record and 11.05 ERA. He spent most of last season in the minors where he went 5-8 with 5.52 ERA. "Its a long road. You never know if a guys going to make it back from that or not," said Gibbons. "But he was starting to show the signs of it. (Tuesday) he wasnt as good and it just kind of reaffirmed, Hey start him down there, but hes moving in the right direction." Romero had been a feel-good story earlier in spring training. Gibbons called him "the big talk of camp" last week after giving up one run in seven innings for an ERA of 1.29 in three appearances. But Romero fell back to earth Tuesday in Lakeland. He gave up three runs on three hitts with five walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches. Alex Okafor Super Bowl Jersey. "Weve taken too many steps forward to dwell on this," Romero said philosophically afterwards. Somewhat bizarrely, he referred to a "weird weather day" in noting "the balls were a little slick and just kept coming out of my hand." It was a sunny 20-degree day at Joker Marchant Stadium. Romero has been positive this spring, making an effort to stay in the moment rather than labour in the past or worry about the future. A lot of people have been rooting for him to succeed, including his manager. "We feel for the guy," said Gibbons. "Its not just looking at results. As much work as the kids putting in, things like that -- the battles hes going through, mentally -- you root for him. You root for him extra hard. "But were encouraged. Were positive after this camp. He may look at it differently but we feel positive with what he accomplished this spring." Romero had left the clubhouse by the time the announcement was made. Gibbons said the pitcher was disappointed at the news. "And rightfully so. I cant blame him for that, but hopefully he feels good about how this spring went." Despite the positive signs, Gibbons said he always saw Romero as having an outside shot at making the team. "Personally I thought regardless of the camp he had, it would probably do him some good to start down in the minor leagues in real competition where things are different," he said. "Just to make sure hes back to where he needs to be. "Because you dont want him to come up and if hes not ready to start the season, backslides and he may never regroup. So that was kind of my thinking. But that wasnt everybodys opinion. If he proved he was ready in spring training, he might have been the guy." NOTES -- Gibbons said closer Casey Janssen felt "great" after a throwing on the mound Tuesday and will go again Friday. Hes slated to make three or four appearances before the season starts March 31 in Tampa. Janssen has been limited in action to protect against shoulder soreness. ' ' '