Hutchison, Fisher Cats two-hit Sea Dogs

Drew Hutchison has enjoyed success at every level he's pitched at this year. In his final start of the regular season Sunday, the results were no different.

The Blue Jays' No. 10 prospect allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings, striking out eight as the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats completed a 7-0 shutout of the Portland Sea Dogs. Four pitchers combined in the two-hit effort.

Hutchison (3-0) has won all three of his starts at Double-A, posting a 1.20 ERA at with the Fisher Cats.

The 21-year-old right-hander started out strong, retiring the first eight batters he saw. He struck out four batters in a row before allowing his only baserunner of the day on Ryan Dent's pop single to first. Hutchison then got the final seven batters he faced before coming out with a pitch count of 64.

Selected in the 15th round of the 2009 Draft, Hutchison signed with the Blue Jays for an over-slot deal of $400,000 and eight semesters of paid college education. He wrapped up the 2011 regular season with a 14-5 record, a 2.53 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 149 1/3 frames across three levels. The native of Florida struck out over a batter an inning at each level and lowered his batting average against at every stop -- from .245 to .194 to .192.

Three relievers -- Wes Etheridge, Reidier Gonzalez and Bobby Korecky -- combined to toss the final four innings, striking out three without issuing a walk. Korecky was the only one to give up a hit, surrendering a leadoff triple to Mitch Dening in the ninth. The 31-year-old righty then struck out the next two batters before inducing a game-ending groundout by Jeremy Hazelbaker.

Mike McDade, Danny Perales and Mark Sobolewski homered for New Hampshire and together drove in six of the team's seven runs.

The Fisher Cats, the Eastern League Eastern Division champs, will enjoy home-field advantage when the playoffs begin Wednesday.