Hutchison heroics guides Blue Jays past Orioles

The Toronto Blue Jays squared their MLB series with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, courtesy of a strong showing from Drew Hutchison.<br /> <a href="http://cache.images.core.optasports.com/news/baseball/2014/8/7/591561header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache.images.core.optasports.com/news/baseball/2014/8/7/591561header.jpg" /></a><br /> Blue Jays starter Hutchison almost pitched for the entirety and allowed just one hit - a homer to Chris Davis - as Toronto ran out 5-1 winners.<br /> <br /> The Canadian outfit led from the first innings onwards, with Dioner Navarro and Danny Valencia batting in runs to put the Blue Jays 2-0 up.<br /> <br /> Davis' homer at the top of the second was Hutchison's only glitch and the Blue Jays responded well to conceding a run, as Jose Bautista struck a two-run homer at the bottom of the inning.<br /> <br /> Bautista made it three runs batted in for the match when he doubled in the sixth inning to score Munenori Kawasaki.<br /> <br /> The Blue Jays remain four games behind the American League's (AL) East division-leading Orioles, ahead of their series decider on Thursday.<br /> <br /> Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander could not steer his side to victory, as the New York Yankees offset four errors with eight hits in a 5-1 victory.<br /> <br /> Detroit's advantage atop the AL's Central standings is 3.5 games, after the Kansas City Royals won their third straight with a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.<br /> <br /> The Yankees are five games off the pace in the AL's East, while further back are the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox - despite the pair chalking up wins.<br /> <br /> The Rays downed the high-flying Oakland Athletics 7-3 and the Red Sox edged the St Louis Cardinals 2-1.<br /> <br /> Oakland remains two games clear on top of the AL's West division, after closest rivals the Los Angeles Angels fell to neighbours the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1.<br /> <br /> The Seattle Mariners inflicted the Atlanta Braves' eighth straight loss, courtesy of a 7-3 result.<br /> <br /> Logan Morrison and Dustin Ackley homered for the Mariners.<br /> <br /> David Buchanan's first start on the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies went to script, as he kept the Houston Astros to three hits in over six innings as they ran out 10-3 winners.<br /> <br /> The Texas Rangers made it rare back-to-back wins this season, downing the Chicago White Sox 3-1.<br /> <br /> National League (NL) East leaders the Washington Nationals capitalised on the Braves' slump, downing the New York Mets 7-1 to move four games clear.<br /> <br /> Miami Marlins starter Tom Koehler allowed four runs in the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and they could not recover - going down 7-3.<br /> <br /> NL Central pace-setters the Milwaukee Brewers preserved a one-game lead atop the standings, despite a 7-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants.<br /> <br /> The Cardinals' loss to the Red Sox benefitted the Brewers, although the Pirates win over the Marlins saw them move within 1.5 games of the divisional lead.<br /> <br /> The Cincinnati Reds downed the Cleveland Indians 8-3 to be four games behind Milwaukee.<br /> <br /> A batting powerplay from the Colorado Rockies saw them to a 13-4 shellacking of fellow strugglers the Chicago Cubs.<br /> <br /> The San Diego Padres needed 10 innings to surpass the Minnesota Twins 5-4.

baseball Hutchison mlb SPORTS Hutchison heroics guides Blue Jays past Orioles

The Toronto Blue Jays squared their MLB series with the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, courtesy of a strong showing from Drew Hutchison. ...

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