DUNEDIN, Fla. Seth Griffith Jersey . -- John Gibbons asked for strike-throwers and Drew Hutchison obliged Friday. The 23-year-old right-hander, continuing to make a strong case to become Torontos fourth starter, threw 4 2/3 strong innings in the Blue Jays 3-1 exhibition loss to the Boston Red Sox. Hutchison, who was tagged with the loss, gave up one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. He retired the first eight Red Sox he faced and threw 71 pitches with 51 strikes. "An outstanding outing," said Jays catcher Dioner Navarro. "A great performance," echoed Gibbons, who nevertheless was coy on what might lie ahead for Hutchison. Pressed by reporters, Gibbons allowed: "Hes doing everything he needs to do." Hutchison returned from Tommy John surgery last fall, pitching in the Arizona Fall League. He seems on top of his game this spring. Hutchison showed his mettle in the fourth inning Friday, striking out Mike Napoli to end the inning after a lengthy at-bat that saw the Red Sox hitter foul off a number of pitches. The Jays pitcher hit 95 miles per hour during the confrontation. "Hes got more than I thought he did," said Gibbons. "And he can pop it up pretty good -- with command. Which makes the guys that are really good really good." This spring Hutchison has given up three runs and seven hits in 9 2/3 innings while striking out 16 and walking one. Opposing batters are hitting just .200 against him. Hutchison made 11 starts for the Jays in 2012 (going 5-3 with a 4.60 ERA) before injuring his arm while warming up in the bullpen for a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Throwing strikes is his modus operandi. "Thats what he does. He was good when he was here the first time before he got hurt," said Gibbons. "Thats how he pitches. The key is just being healthy." The same can be said for J.A. Happ, another would-be starter who returned Friday from an ailing back. The six-foot-six left-hander pronounced himself happy with a three-inning performance in a minor-league game. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out two. "It was good. Exciting," said Happ. "I felt normal out there which is really nice." Said Gibbons: "I heard he pitched really well." A gaggle of pitchers is trying to join R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow in the Jays rotation. Barring a trade, Nos. 4 and 5 will come from Hutchison, Happ, Ricky Romero, Esmil Rogers, Todd Redmond, Kyle Drabek, Marcus Stroman and Sean Nolin. Of the three main contenders, Hutchison appears to have pitched his way into the rotation. Romero is turning heads with his improved performance this spring. But Happ has had an uneasy pre-season. In two starts, he has given up six runs in just 1 1/3 innings. The back issue has further muddied the waters. Gibbons, who had yet to speak to Happ following the minor-league outing, said the major issue was making sure Happs back was healthy. Happ, in speaking to reporters, said the back was fine. The lines of communication within the Jays on Happ seem a little blurry in general. The pitcher seemed unhappy with GM Alex Anthopoulos answer late last week on whether there were one or two spots open in the starting rotation. "There could be two," Anthopoulos said at the time." I think were going to take the best team north. Especially right now, we have J.A. (Happ) and the back, the performance, things like that, we have to get him on track, stay healthy. "Obviously R.A., Mark and Brandon. Again, we expect J.A. to be in the rotation but at the same time the backs flared up on him twice. I just dont know. Look, if guys perform well and they force our hand, well take the best team." Asked on Friday if he had something to prove in the wake of those words, Happ replied: "I dont have any comment on that. My comment is no comment. "That was probably disappointing to hear but theres nothing I want to say about it." Happ has campaigned to be a starter since arriving here via trade and the issue appears to have left a chip on his shoulder. Last spring he found himself on the outside of the rotation looking in, until Romero pitched his way out of it. Happ eventually went 5-7 with a 4.56 ERA in 18 starts last year in a season disrupted by a nasty setback. Hit in the head by a ball off the bat of Desmond Jennings in a May game with the Tampa Bay Rays, he was out for three months with a skull fracture and a sprained right knee from when he toppled to the ground. While the Red Sox didnt bring all of their starters Friday, their lineup did included Mike Carp, Napoli and Jonny Gomes in the meat of the order. Boston finally got to Hutchison in the fifth. Gomes singled and came home on Corey Browns double to deep centre. The relay throw by Ryan Goins was a little high, allowing Gomes to score. The Red Sox added two more in the eighth before Jonathan Diaz scored on a Kevin Pillar double in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 3-1. Boston starter Clay Buchholz was also impressive, holding the Jays scoreless on two hits in four innings. After giving up two singles to open the first inning, he retired 11 straight for the win. The 29-year-old right-hander went 9-0 with a 1.71 earned-run average ERA in his first 12 starts last season before going on the disabled list for more than three months with shoulder and neck problems. He returned in September, finishing with a 12-1 mark and 1.74 ERA. The loss was the third straight for Toronto, which slipped to 6-9. Boston improved to 7-8. The game drew a sellout of 5,519 on a sunny 20 C day at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Benoit Pouliot Jersey . -- New York Yankees centre fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was sent for an MRI Thursday of his ailing right calf, which was negative. Jake McCabe Jersey . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. http://www.sabresauthority.com/authentic-pierre-turgeon-sabres-jersey/ . Kevin Durant certainly played like there was on Sunday night, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Thunder made quick work of the visiting Pacers with a 118-94 win.MASON, Ohio -- Fresh off their inspired performances at the Rogers Cup, Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil are into the second round of the Western & Southern Open. Raonic, who dropped Sundays final in Montreal to Rafael Nadal, defeated Jack Sock 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday night to advance at the tournament just outside Cincinnati. "Mentally I felt good, it was a bit about getting used to the conditions and the environment," Raonic said of his slow start against the American. "I stuck through it and in the second set I stayed positive and started to play a bit more aggressive. The 12th seed from Thornhill, Ont., Raonic lost to Sock in Memphis in February after winning in San Jose the previous week for the third year running. Raonic, now ranked a career-high 10th on the ATP Tour after beating Pospisil in the Rogers Cup semifinals, disposed of Sock in just under two hours. He will meet Serbias Janko Tipsarevic in the next round. "Tipsarevic will be a tough opponent," said Raonic. "Ive got to keep doing what Ive been doing, clean up my service games a bit and get better at closing it out." Pospisil, now also ranked a career-best at No. 40, advanced when Frances Gilles Simon retired with an injury. Simon was trailing 6-3, 1-1 when he ended the match. "It was a strange match," Pospisil said. "I started out well but I noticed that something was going on with him, I think it might have been the hip. "It was difficult to play from that point. It was fortunate for me and unfortunate for him." The Vernon, B.C., native needed just 36 minutes to sweep the opening set against Simon, who lost his fifth match in a row and hasnt won since mid-June. Pospisil faces Belgiums David Goffin in the next round. "The match will be tough and I dont see a clear favourite," Pospisil said. "Hes a dangerous player, very talented, and has beaten some top players. Well have to see." Meanwhile, defending mens champion and fifth-seeded Roger Federer advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over 29th-ranked Philipp Kohlschreiber. "It was just really important to play somewhat of a clean match," said Federer, who already has won a record five W&S championships and improved to 7-0 in his career against Kohlschreiber. "Straight sets is always a good match. Its a good win for me." John Isner defeated Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, and Grigor Dimitrov defeated Brian Baker 6-3, 6-2. Third-seeded David Ferrer edged Ryan Harrison 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4. On the womens side, Maria Sharapovas return to WTA tournament play after more than a month away was short-lived following an upset loss to 17th-ranked American Sloane Stephens 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. In a match that lasted two hours 22 minutes, Stephens overcame double faults on ttwo match points to pick up her first victory over Sharapova in four meetings. Ryan Miller Jersey. "It definitely started out rough," Stephens said. "A set and 0-2, she was killing it. Im glad I was able to turn it around and start playing good tennis." Sharapova, the 2011 W&S champion and a 2010 finalist, showed no traces of the hip injury that had kept her sidelined since a second-round loss at Wimbledon. "I thought I started the match off pretty well, but when you put yourself in a really good position, you cant let it go," Sharapova said. "Thats what I did tonight. I didnt continue what I was doing well for the first set and a half, and that hurt me. "You know, I stopped being patient. I started making a lot more errors, especially off the first ball -- just errors that I shouldnt make. Obviously I havent played in a long time, but I cant make that excuse for myself because Ive got to be ready from the first match. So its obviously disappointing, but thats the way it goes in this game." Jimmy Connors, who won the tournament 41 years ago, watched from the stands in his first match as Sharapovas coach. She hired Connors, the 1972 champion and a 1986 finalist, in mid-July. Fourteenth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, the 2009 champion and 2011 runner-up, advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-2 win over Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisiski. In earlier action, second-seeded Victoria Azarenka held off an upset bid by qualifier Vania King to pull out a 6-1, 7-6 (6) win and advance to the third round. Azarenka rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second set to force the tiebreaker against the 140th-ranked American. Azarenka, who has been bothered by a lower back injury, won her first match since losing to Samantha Stosur in the finals of the Southern California Open two weeks ago. "I think the beginning of the second set wasnt very good for me," Azarenka said. "There were quite a few unforced errors and just really fast mistakes, which didnt happen in the first set." Varvara Lepchenko advanced with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta, and Jamie Hampton needed three sets to overcome Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Alize Cornet rallied past Ana Ivanovic 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4. Sorana Cirstea, the 21st-ranked Romanian who lost to No. 1 Serena Williams in the finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday, withdrew from her first-round match against Yanina Wickmayer. Cirstea was replaced by No. 43 Monica Niculescu, who lost in this past weekends qualifying but stayed around in case a spot opened up in the singles main draw and to play doubles. The Romanian capitalized on her second chance with a 6-1, 6-2 win over the 58th-ranked Wickmayer. No. 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki easily advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Shuai Peng. Cheap Football Norway Jerseys Cheap Nigeria Soccer Jerseys Cheap Morocco Soccer Jerseys Cheap Mexico Soccer Jerseys Cheap Japan Soccer Jerseys Cheap Italy Soccer Jerseys Cheap Germany Jerseys Authentic Cheap Mexico Jerseys Authentic Cheap Colombia Jerseys Authentic Cheap Belgium Jerseys Authentic Cheap Brazil Jerseys Authentic Cheap Argentina Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Germany Jerseys Wholesale Brazil Jerseys Wholesale Portugal Jerseys Wholesale Argentina Jerseys Wholesale Belgium Jerseys Wholesale France Jerseys Wholesale Spain Jerseys Wholesale England Jerseys ' ' '