Dickey clips Angels with shutout effort
Knuckleballer scatters seven hits to help Toronto keep pace in AL East
As time gets short ANAHEIM, CALIF. on R.A. Dickey’s tenure as a Blue Jay, opportunity becomes his greatest opponent. With six starters in the Toronto stable and with each game growing in importance, his remaining starts are uncertain, at best.
That’s why Friday night’s five innings of shutout baseball authored by the 41-year-old in Toronto’s 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels carry significant weight.
The Jays are trying to overcome a bad stretch at the start of September and get back in the groove that kept them in first place in the American League East for 36 days.
Dickey scattered six singles and a double in his 10th winning decision of the season. More importantly, he helped the Jays maintain their position in both the wild card playoff hunt and in the AL East title hunt. The Jays (81-66) and Baltimore Orioles remain tied for second in the division, two games behind the Boston Red Sox (83-64).
Dickey had plenty of help in this one. First there was Troy Tulow- itzki and the two-run home run that accounted for all the scoring in the first eight innings of the game. Then Joe Biagini delivered a brilliant inning of relief after Dickey put him in a tough spot to start the sixth. From there, Joaquin Benoit, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna shepherded the slender lead to the finish line. Edwin Encarnacion also chimed in with his 40th homer of the season in the ninth inning.
Manager John Gibbons talked about the uncertainty ahead for both Dickey and Francisco Liriano, but he does expect both to get some work over the next couple of weeks.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Angels had Dickey in trouble.
After Kole Calhoun flew out to centre field to start the game, Mike Trout singled. Albert Pujols then lined a double into the left field corner that probably could have scored Trout, but he was held at third base. Dickey proceeded to strike out first baseman C.J. Cron, then walked Jefry Marte to fill the bases. Andrelton Simmons then allowed Dickey to wriggle free by popping out to Encarnacion.