Bayern Trupp » Granlund carried the puck up the

TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays bullpen has struggled mightily over the last week. There was a massive meltdown in Minnesota on April 17 and another blown opportunity a few days later in Cleveland. The Toronto relievers took it on the chin again Thursday as the Baltimore Orioles turned a close game into an 11-4 rout at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays wasted a quality six-inning effort by Drew Hutchison and fell back to the .500 mark by losing the rubber game of three-game series. Baltimore scored five runs in the seventh inning and added four more in the eighth for the blowout win. "Theres going to be some blips every now and then," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "I still think our bullpen stacks up as good as anybody out there." Several relievers had blips on this night. Neil Wagner lasted just one out before being pulled. Brett Cecil (0-1) didnt even manage an out, allowing four earned runs, two walks and two hits. Esmil Rogers worked the rest of the seventh inning and pitched the eighth, giving up three earned runs and five hits. "Its only April, youre not going to be perfect every time," Cecil said. "I didnt feel like I had a good feel for anything. I was pulling my cutters, my curveballs were up and not as sharp." Jonathan Schoop homered and David Lough had three of the Orioles 14 hits. Bud Norris (1-2) allowed five hits, three earned runs and a walk over six innings for Baltimore (11-10). Nelson Cruz scored twice and drove in two runs while Chris Davis and Adam Jones had three RBIs apiece. "We know these guys are going to score runs whether its early or late," Norris said. Toronto (11-11) did most of its damage in the second inning. Dioner Navarro put the Blue Jays on the board with a solo shot for his first homer of the season. Juan Francisco followed with a single and scored when Colby Rasmus belted a two-run blast. Baltimore had some chances early on but Hutchison was locating his fastball on both sides of the plate to keep the Orioles at bay. The 23-year-old right-hander had nine strikeouts for the second straight game. "I dont go out there trying to strike people out, I go out there trying to command the ball and attack the strike zone," Hutchison said. "And when you get ahead of guys, you put them away. Thats all that is." The Orioles finally got to Hutchison in the fifth when Schoop opened the frame with a solo homer. Lough reached on a walk, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice fly and scored on a Davis single. Hutchison struck out Jones to get out of the frame with the lead intact. "Hutch gave us that big start we were looking for, we just couldnt take advantage of it," Gibbons said. "Then the game got away late there." The Toronto bullpen also struggled in a 10-8 loss to the Orioles a night earlier. It was the first time Baltimore has scored 10 runs or more in back-to-back games since August 2008. "We can string some hits together and get the home run any time," Jones said. "Our lineup is scary and its fun to see it click the last couple of nights." Norris settled down after his rough second inning. He faced the minimum 11 batters until hitting Encarnacion with a pitch in the sixth inning. After the game, Gibbons said he wasnt worried about his bullpen, which had a strong season last year before fading late in the campaign. This seasons low point came in a 9-5 loss to the Twins a week earlier. In that game, Minnesota scored three straight runs on wild pitches by Torontos Sergio Santos and the bullpen issued a team-record eight walks in one inning. The struggles continued against the Orioles and things dont get easier with the reigning World Series champion Boston Red Sox in town for a weekend series. "Its still a good bullpen," Gibbons said. "(The Orioles) found a couple holes, but they kept the pressure on us all night." Notes: Cecils season-opening streak of 8 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings came to an end. ... The Blue Jays challenged a hit batsman call in the eighth inning. After a review of almost two minutes, the call stood. ... Left-hander Mark Buehrle (4-0) is scheduled to start Friday night against Bostons Jake Peavy (0-0). ... Toronto fell to 4-5 at Rogers Centre this season. ... Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista had an RBI single in the eighth inning and has now reached base in all 22 games this season. ... Announced attendance was 16,283. ... The game took two hours 54 minutes to play. Cheap Authentic Air Max 95 . -- The Orlando Magic have made no secret that the future of their franchise will depend on how well they can develop their young players. Cheap Air Max 1 .C., won gold in the womens 200-metre backstroke, and Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont. http://www.airmaxsneakersonsale.com/. Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse will reunite at this weekends season-opening World Cup at Canada Olympic Park as they begin their buildup to the Winter Games in Sochi. Wholesale Air Max 1 . -- Jonathan Diaz is easy to spot in the Blue Jays clubhouse. Cheap Air Max 270 China . The thunderous cheers quickly changed to an appreciative chant: "Ma-son! Ma-son! Ma-son! Headed to New York with new life, Mason sure earned this curtain call.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hi Kerry, I wanted to say that I love reading your take on these questions and I loved your book. I have a question regarding the Montreal vs. Minnesota game the other night. Now I am a Habs fan so this may seem like a strange question but late in the third, Minnesotas Marco Scandella was called for hooking, clearly this was a good call but my concern is this - at this point the Canadiens were already winning 6-1 and I was thinking did the referee really need to make that call? I mean, there must come a point where the whistles have to be put away, no? There is nothing wrong with a decisive win, and if the offending player had say given a blatant head shot or high stick to the face call it, but to me the hooking just added insult to injury and maybe should not have been called. So my question is - does there come a time when you just put the whistle away and just let the game finish? Thanks as always,Dan Boucher Dan: Thank you for the kudos. Your philosophical question pertains to an area of officiating called "game management." Please understand that game management is not just about making a decision to call or not call a penalty. It goes much beyond that and pertains to a refs "feel" for the game as it is being played out in the moment. The most exciting and entertaining games are when the players are allowed to compete hard and on the edge where physicality is properly balanced with player safety. No different than a pot of water on a stove, the temperature of a game can intensify and will boil over if the chef does not turn down the heat at the appropriate time. A referees ability to appropriately manage the emotional element of the game (players and coaches) is crucial in this regard. That can include situations when player frustration results during an embarrassing blow-out game. The good referee knows when to impose his authority in a way that achieves a positive result. Former NHL Director of Officiating John McCauley, my mentor and current NHL referee Wes McCauleys late father, told me that "the very best game is one played with "controlled bedlam" and the most successful referee is the one that can get the players to play on his terms with laying the hammer down!" John was talking specifically about "game management." There are some fans that take the position that a penalty is a penalty regardless of the sccore or the time of the game.dddddddddddd Your question Dan highlights a more realistic and practical approach that balances a referees ability to enforce the rules (maintain integrity of the game) with common sense judgment through his feel for the game and what a game requires in the moment. The wide gap in the standard of rule enforcement from days of old has narrowed in the "new, newer NHL." The expectation from the majority of the hockey community is that a violation of the rules will (should) result in a penalty called by the referee. It is often hard to understand how a puck over the glass is an automatic penalty in overtime while an obvious hold might not be called? We know there is ongoing work to be done by the Officiating Dept. in the area of coaching and holding the refs accountable to the expected standard. As these theories pertain to your specific question Dan let me say that an obvious penalty must be called at any time in the game, regardless of the score or the time! In addition to maintaining player safety, all flagrant fouls, stick infractions, dangerous hits and fouls on scoring opportunities should never be overlooked by the referees. Marco Scandella of the Minnesota Wild hooked Max Pacioretty with a potential scoring opportunity after a turnover in the neutral zone. While Pacioretty did not lose possession of the puck the referee maintained the expected standard when Scandella hooked the hands of the Montreal player as he was cutting toward the Minnesota goal. A "must call" was made in spite of the 6-1 Montreal lead with 3:40 remaining. It is also important to note that the referees worked the game right to the end with a consistent standard when Daniel Briere was assessed a penalty for holding Mikael Granlund with 1:49 remaining in the game. The infraction occurred as Granlund carried the puck up the wall in the neutral zone and was stalled from behind with a tug-hook and eventual free-hand grab by Briere that forced a loss of puck possession. The proper standard was maintained with the holding penalty called against Daniel Briere and resulted in Danny Heatleys power play goal with two seconds remaining in the game. If the referee had missed, or worse yet avoided calling the infraction committed by Briere you can bet the game temperature would have spiked through Wild frustration during the final minute and a half. The timing of the Briere infraction allowed for excellent "game management" to be demonstrated by the referee. John McCauley would be proud. ' ' '