Struggling Dickey has another rough day on mound
TORONTO As far as the Blue Jays are concerned, there is but one reasonable antidote for this bit of business down at the 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 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.
The home runs, especially, have Dickey scratching his head.
“In looking back at tape, sometimes they’re hitting good pitches, like the one that Wallace hit out today,” he said. “I don’t have a reason. So you’ve got to keep pressing forward.”
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.
Wednesday, in the third inning, Dickey 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 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.
In the fifth, Wallace was back at the plate and smacked his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot.