TORONTO – Just when you thought the Blue Jays starting rotation was poised for the protracted regression so many are expecting, enter Drew Hutchison and one of his brilliant performances to set the clubs proverbial planet back on its axis. Red Holzman Jersey . This one was special, rivaling and perhaps exceeding his two-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over the Rangers on a May night in Arlington, a night when he was better than Yu Darvish. Hutchison had his fastball grooving, painting either side of the plate and working high and low, and his slider dancing with a nasty down-and-away bite that made the likes of Manny Machado and J.J. Hardy look silly. He threw 8 2/3 innings of one-run, one-hit, one-walk, two-over-the minimum baseball. If not for a Chris Davis opposite field home run into the second deck in the second inning and an adrenaline-related two out walk to Nick Markakis in the ninth, Hutchison would have pitched a complete game and vied for a perfect game. As the old saying goes, timing is everything. "Perfect timing," said manager John Gibbons, whose club snapped a four-game losing skid and made up the game in the standings it lost to Baltimore on Tuesday night. "Weve been struggling a little bit. Against a good ballclub we needed that. We scored some runs early and made them stand up. He looked good. Hes pitched some great ballgames for us this year but perfect timing tonight." Hutchison improved his record to 2-0 against the Orioles in four starts this season. How dominant has he been against Baltimore? His ERA against the AL East foe actually went up after his performance. He entered with a 0.95 number, which skyrocketed to 0.98 following the outing. The Orioles boast one of baseballs best offences. Consistently shutting down a lineup that includes Nick Markakis, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis is no small feat. "I approach it the same as always, whether its on the road or here at home, whoever Im facing," said Hutchison. "You approach them all the same. You game plan the same way and Ive just had good success against them." Hutchison made a small mechanical adjustment in his between-starts bullpen session, which he said allowed him to stay more on top of the baseball, driving through his delivery. "Locate my heater down, which was more important and the slider comes off of that," said Hutchison. "I think that was more a byproduct of getting through the ball and getting through with the fastball command first and that came off it. I thought my changeup was really good tonight." The search for consistency continues. Hutchison hasnt put together back to back quality starts (six or more innings, three earned runs or less allowed) all season. Hell look to do that on Monday when the Blue Jays open a three-city, eight-game road trip in Seattle. His mound opponent is scheduled to be "King" Felix Hernandez. "You want to be as consistent as possible and as a competitor you expect yourself to be consistently good every time out so when youre not it is frustrating," said Hutchison. "Youre not going to be great every time out. I think the key is the nights you arent great to be able to get through them without a lot of damage, which I havent been great at yet this year but going forward thats obviously something that you want to do." Hutchison is only 23. Hes also working his first full big league season coming off Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, which nowadays is routine but always will be a major procedure. "Thats a glimpse of what we think hes going to be down the road," said Gibbons. "He gets a year or two under his belt from his Tommy John, hes going to be physically stronger. We forget hes a young kid. Hes got a chance to be a real good one." LAWRIES STATUS UNCERTAIN Brett Lawrie underwent an MRI on Wednesday after feeling tightness in his lower back during Tuesdays loss to the Orioles. He left that game after three innings. Hed just returned from a 36-game absence with a fractured right index finger. As of this posting, the Blue Jays hadnt revealed the results of the MRI but the club announced that team doctors in Toronto and Florida were reading the imaging and comparing it to the MRI taken of Lawries oblique injury in 2012. Lawrie missed 30 games, mostly in the month of August, that season. Last year, he suffered an oblique strain in a Team Canada tune up game for the World Baseball Classic on March 5. He didnt make his 2013 season debut for the Blue Jays until April 16. Expect the club to reveal more details on Thursday. LIND NEARS RETURN Adam Lind, out since July 8 with a fracture in his right foot, will begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays on Thursday. Use a pencil, not a pen, to write Lind back into the Blue Jays lineup at the start of the next road trip, Monday in Seattle. "That would be a good goal," said manager John Gibbons. "Hell start playing games in the Gulf Coast (on Thursday) and well see where hes at." The Blue Jays have missed Linds left-handed bat in the middle of the order when the club faces right-handed starting pitching. Few in baseball hit right-handers better than Lind. In 166 plate appearances this season, hes worked a .369 batting average and 1.004 on-base plus slugging percentage versus righties. NORRIS PROMOTED TO BUFFALO Daniel Norris rapid ascent through the minor leagues continues. Hes been promoted to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. In 21 starts with Single-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire, the 21-year-old lefthander is 9-1 with a 2.38 ERA in 102 innings. Norris appeared in the Florida State League All-Star Game in mid-June and then was moved up to New Hampshire. Vince Boryla Jersey .J. - Several people have collapsed in an overcrowded New Jersey train station while waiting in long lines to get to the Super Bowl. New York Knicks Pro Shop . The Major League Soccer teams were scheduled to play on Saturday night, but their game was rescheduled after Stu Tudor was hit during a pregame storm. The 54-year-old lieutenant in the Columbus Fire Department is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of the Ohio State Medical Center. https://www.cheapknicks.com/471x-howard-komives-jersey-knicks.html . Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver.BARCELONA, Spain -- Lionel Messi is set to return from a two-month injury layoff after being cleared by Barcelona team doctors and included in the squad for the Copa del Rey match against Getafe on Wednesday. Messi hasnt played since tearing his left hamstring on Nov. 10, his fourth leg injury last year. He returned to training with Barcelona last week after recovering in Argentina. Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino said Tuesday that Messi "feels fine" but didnt reveal if the clubs all-time leading scorer will start or stay on the bench. "Messi rehabbed well and has trained like the rest of the team," Martino said. "Maybe he lacks some playing time, but with Leo I dont think that will be a problem. "Messi gives us all a boost of confidence. With him at our side, we all feel more secure." Martino said that if Messi plays he hopes he can repeat his remarkable goal against Getaafe in 2007, when he dribbled from his own half, slaloming by a series of defenders, to net arguably his greatest goal. RJ Barrett Jersey. Barcelona lost its only two games of the season without Messi, but it has managed to hold onto a share of the Spanish league lead with Atletico Madrid. Barcelona hosts Getafe in the first leg of the round of 16 before travelling to Atletico on Saturday in one of the most highly anticipated league matches of the season. In Messis absence, Pedro Rodriguez, Neymar and, most recently, Alexis Sanchez have picked up the scoring slack. Pedro leads the team with 15 goals in all competitions this season, one more than Messi. Martino left Xavi Hernandez, Dani Alves and Marc Bartra off his squad for the Getafe match. He also confirmed that backup goalkeeper Jose Pinto will continue to start in the Copa del Rey, as he had under prior coaches Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. ' ' '