Struggling Dickey roughed up by Padres

KEN FIDLIN TORON TO • As far as the Blue Jays are concerned, there is but one reasonable antidote for this bit of business down at Rogers Centre Wednesday afternoon. Amnesia. Pretty much everything about this 8-4 San Diego Padres victory was forgettable, from a Toronto perspective.

R.A. Dickey remained in the rut he has been mired for three consecutive starts. The Toronto defence, an aspect of its game that has been extraordinary at times this year, stumbled and bumbled its way to a couple of costly errors. And the offence, with only a brief interlude in the sixth inning, was non-existent.

Dickey was tagged with seven runs, six of them earned, over 5 2/3 innings. He gave up only four hits, but two of them were homers. He walked four.

“I walked a few guys today,” he said. “Normally I feel like I walk a couple of guys an outing. I still haven’t had a start this year where I haven’t walked one. That could be better for sure. But the way I feel and the way it’s coming out of my hand, I can’t complain about that.”

In his last three starts, Dickey has pitched 14 2/3 innings, allowing 17 earned runs on 16 hits — including six home runs — and nine walks. His ERA in that span is 10.44.

“It was going pretty good prior to the all-star break but I’ve run into a bit of adversity these last three starts,” said Dickey.

“There are some good things to take out of it to try to apply to the next outing but sometimes you’ve got to be like a robot in these situations and keep going forward. You’ve just got to have a short-term memory and keep going.”

The home runs, especially, have Dickey scratching his head.

“I wish I had one,” he said. “That’s been something of an anomaly for me. Well, maybe not because I’ve been giving up, consistently, multiple home runs in multiple games. In looking back at tape, sometimes they’re hitting good pitches, like the one that Wallace hit out today. It was a good one that knuckled down late and he dug it out to hit a wallscraper out. I don’t have a reason. So you’ve got to keep pressing forward. One will come out of your hand and won’t do much and the next one will be like the best one you’ve ever thrown.”

The Blue Jays’ offence, so potent over the last six weeks, was largely absent save for a short-lived threerun, two-out rally in the sixth inning. Still, the Jays (57-45) come out of this three-game set with a series win and now face a day off before taking on division-rival Baltimore in a three-game set at Rogers Centre this weekend.

In the third inning of his previous start, against Seattle, Dickey gave up a single, hit two batters, then served up a grand slam to Nelson Cruz to send the Mariners on their way to a 14-5 victory. Wednesday, in the third inning, he hit No. 8 hitter Brett Wallace, then served up a two-run homer to Adam Rosales to give San Diego a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, the Blue Jays’ uncharacteristic sloppiness in the field cost them two more unearned runs. After Dickey got two quick outs, he walked Ryan Schimpf. Christian Bethancourt then drilled a line drive into the right-centre gap that Kevin Pillar misplayed off the wall. That miscue allowed Schimpf to score and also let Bethancourt get to third. When relay-man Devon Travis made a poor throw to third base that eluded Josh Donaldson, Bethancourt scored easily.

“We play better than that,” said manager John Gibbons. “That’s rare for us. Sometimes when that ball is in the gap and the outfielder knows there’s a chance for three bases, it’s tough to slow yourself down to grab that thing. But that’s unusual for us.”

In the fifth, Wallace was back at the plate and smacked his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot to right to make it a 5-0 ball game.

“I’m pleased with the way I feel but I’m not pleased with the inconsistency I feel in my mechanic and that’s something I’m going to try to work on before my next start,” said Dickey.

“I need to get back, foundationally, to a consistent mechanic where I can produce a consistent knuckleball throughout the course of a game,” said Dickey. “If I’m doing that, I’m going to run off five or six in a row that are going to be pretty good.” Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey walks off the field during an 8-4 loss against the San Diego Padres Wednesday.