Martin keeps up pace
Dickey pitches into the seventh inning as the Blue Jays beat Angels 7-2
TORONTO — Russell Martin drove in two runs and R.A. Dickey pitched into the seventh inning on Tuesday night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-2.
Martin continued his torrid pace at the plate, racking up three hits and scoring once for Toronto (71-54). The Canadian entered the game hitting .414 in his last seven games with six home runs and 11 runs batted in.
Michael Saunders launched a solo shot while Darwin Barney had two hits, including a double, and scored twice. Melvin Upton Jr., Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Thole all drove in runs.
Dickey went 62/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out two and walking two. His lone blemish came in the second inning when he gave up a two-run home run to Nick Buss.
Tyler Skaggs took the loss for the Angels (52-73), going four innings, allowing four runs on four hits while walking five and striking out two. He has now given up 19 earned runs in 172/3 innings through three August starts.
The Blue Jays entered the game in a tie for first place in the American League East division with the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were in Tampa Bay Tuesday night to face the Rays.
Barney led off the first with a double to left centre-field and came around to score on an RBI single by Martin. Barney took the place of Devon Travis in the Toronto lineup after Travis had a ligament issue in his right knuckle flare up on him. Manager John Gibbons says that Travis received a cortisone shot and is day-today.
Buss got the Angels on the board in the second with his first MLB home run to give Los Angeles a 2-1 advantage.
It broke a streak of threestraight starts that Dickey hadn’t allowed a home run. Entering the game, Dickey had given up 112 home runs, the most in the MLB since 2013, and his 27 long balls allowed this year rank him tied for fifth in the majors.
The Blue Jays started to rally in the third. After Skaggs walked Barney and Josh Donaldson to start the inning, an Edwin Encarnacion bloop single to right loaded the bases. Skaggs then walked Martin to drive home Barney and tie the game 2-2. Tulowitzki followed by grounding into a double play but Donaldson scored.
Centre-fielder Kevin Pillar returned from the disabled list prior to the game and received a warm, loud applause from the 46,696 in attendance at Rogers Centre. He gave fans something to cheer about in the fourth, doubling down the third-base line and later scoring after a Josh Thole sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
Tulowitzki doubled into left field in the fifth which plated Encarnacion from first. Upton Jr. followed that up with a sacrifice fly, also to left, that drove in Martin and extended the lead to 6-2. Donaldson started fanning Martin down with a towel when he arrived back in the dugout, trying to cool down the 33-year-old.
Saunders’ home run in the eighth inning — his 21st of the season — came off A.J. Achter and landed in the second deck of the right-field bleachers, pushing the lead to 7-2.
Slugger Jose Bautista is expected to return from the DL on Thursday . ... Marco Estrada (7-5, 3.20 ERA) is due to start Wednesday night for Toronto. Matt Shoemaker (7-13, 4.14 ERA) is the probable starter for Los Angeles.