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MILWAUKEE – As radio talk shows, beat reporters and analysts do daily disseminations on the state of the Blue Jays, breaking down the decline of the starting rotation, discussing the lack of power offence and opining on whether veteran players should have voiced displeasure after a quiet trade deadline, three of the ballclubs young pitchers go to work each day looking to be part of the solution. Theyre not in a position to comment on the problems, they havent earned their stripes, but Marcus Stroman, Drew Hutchison and Aaron Sanchez are living the ups and downs – mostly downs – of the pennant race with the rest of their more seasoned mates. "It sucks the way its been so far, just kind of how it turned out, just how weve kind of been stumbling lately," said Stroman. "The whole groups pretty confident. You couldnt tell we were in a losing streak just by the attitude of the group. Just looking forward to hopefully turning it around and giving it a real push this year." Stromans done his part, pitching to a 3.12 ERA over 14 starts. While hes struggled in two of his last three outings, there have been many more when hes been dominant. As questions abound about the state of the clubhouse with the season in an apparent free fall, Stroman said the same veteran players hes come to rely on for advice (including Mark Buehrle and Jose Bautista) continue to have a positive effect on his young career. "Regardless of how the teams doing we still have the veteran presence on the team, you still have everyone who is more than willing to help you out and show you the ropes and do everything in their power to educate you further on being a professional and also on your game and pitching," said Stroman. "Every single day has been a learning experience for me regardless." Hutchison is working his first full season in the big leagues, having gone down to Tommy John Surgery in June, 2012 and spending last season in rehabilitation. Hes been inconsistent, struggling to a 5.79 ERA over his last 15 starts since entering his May 26 outing against Tampa Bay with a 3.45 ERA. There are periodic glimpses of the pitcher the Jays expect Hutchison to become and its impossible to know how much of his struggles are related to inexperience and how much are simply bumps in the road common to pitchers coming off elbow ligament replacement. The 23-year-old carries himself beyond his years, concerned that if the 2014 Jays season continues its current trend it will be one looked back upon with regret. "You dont know how many opportunities youre going to get to be this close or to have the opportunity that we have," said Hutchison. "Struggling like we have, its tough but you just have to stick to your process and stay to what youve done thats made you successful and believe that youre going to push through it and get better." Aaron Sanchez, who at 22 years old is the youngest of the group, is getting his feet wet as a reliever. Hes proven to be a reliable, late-inning, right-handed arm for manager John Gibbons. Like Hutchison, hes not interested in talking about whether a young player can gain from losing, at least not while the team has a mathematical chance at the postseason. "Coming up as a 22-year-old in a pennant race, trying to win the division, trying to win the wild card, I think you can take a lot from that down the road, especially if you go through this kind of situation again later on in my career," said Sanchez. "Yeah, definitely, but at the same time youre not just hear to soak it up. Youre here to win," said Hutchison. "Yes, in certain ways but in other ways its not happy to be here, happy to have the opportunity mindset because were here to win. Were here to get the job done." The business of preparing for each start, in Stromans and Hutchisons cases, doesnt change. Sanchez has developed a routine hes comfortable with out of the bullpen. Expect Sanchez to join the starting rotation next season. "Being a creature of habit you get used to your process and what you do that makes you prepared and feel ready to go," said Hutchison. "You just stick to that and try to block everything else out. When things are going well you do the same thing also." The Jays head home off a 9-5 win on Wednesday in Milwaukee, a victory to conclude a 2-6 road trip. Up next is a nine-game homestand against three divisional opponents. It begins on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays. Stroman will make the start. "Im ready. Im ready," he said. Stroman still believes that 2014 can be salvaged. "If any teams capable of putting together a run, its us," said Stroman. "The guys that we have on this team are unbelievable. Unbelievable talent as well as personality-wise and if we get hot well definitely get hot and open up some eyes so 100-percent faith and confidence in this team to get the job done." . Setting United on its way to a 2-0 victory, Rooney sent the ball high from inside the halfway line over goalkeeper Adrian after just seven minutes. "Its just instinct, Ive turned and had a quick look and seen the goalkeeper off his line," Rooney said. . 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. . - Considering where Jeff Gordon was after Richmond, left out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in part due to some late-race shenanigans, he couldnt have been happier on Sunday. . Bryce Harper? He also came into Wednesday without a long ball and hadnt driven in a run. He was hitting .160, had nearly three times as many strikeouts as hits and was dropped to seventh in the batting order. . An in-person hearing allows for Garbutt to be suspended for five games or longer as per the leagues Collective Bargaining Agreement. Garbutt delivered a high hit to Penner in the second period of Sundays game.Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson plans to start goal keeper Marco Carducci and midfielder Russell Teibert in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semi-final on Wednesday. Robinson also announced that Teibert will captain the squad as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 disadvantage in the home-leg of thee two game matchup.dddddddddddd. Though they were defeated, the Whitecaps scored an important stoppage time away goal to give them some momentum heading into the second leg. The Whitecaps are still searching for their first Canadian Championship after finishing runner-up for five consecutive seasons. ' ' '
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