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, Ill take it. I felt I gave us a chance to win.
BOSTON, Massachusetts - There are times over the course of a season when a team needs its ace starter to be a stopper. Virgil van Dijk Jersey . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey. "I feel like thats why one of the reasons Alex pursued me and wanted to make the trade because he felt like I could be a guy that could help stop streaks when they werent going in our favour. Its not necessarily extra pressure but you do feel a real responsibility to be your best." Consider the situation: Following a franchise record-tying 11-game win streak the Blue Jays traveled to Tropicana Field, where the worst always seems to happen, and promptly lost the first two games of a three-game set against the division rival Rays. In stepped Dickey for an unusually early 12:10 afternoon start. 93 pitches and only two ground ball singles later, the Jays had won 3-0 and avoided the possibility of a lengthy losing skid. "Thats his job," said veteran Mark DeRosa. "Thats his job. Hes a number one, you know. We fully expected him to go out, maybe not throw a two-hit potential no-hitter the way he was rolling, but I have all the confidence in R.A. He knows, he knows, anybody who reads his post-game comments, this guy is thinking 10 days in advance. He knows what it takes and hes been there before and won a Cy Young." The Jays have won 12 of 15 despite Thursday nights 7-4 loss to the Red Sox. While the club, for the most part, has received excellent starting pitching during the stretch, a clearly defined staff ace has yet to emerge. Dickey is hesitant to discuss Wednesdays outing as a turning point in his season but his personal catcher, Josh Thole, who caught the knuckleballers Cy Young 2012 season with the Mets, suggested it could be. Thole struggled to catch the knuckleball in Wednesdays pregame bullpen session. It was even more difficult in-game. These are good signs. "I mean thats what I remember," said Thole. "What we saw (Wednesday,) is what I remember. Every fifth day it was a challenge to go out there, warm him up, take him into a game. Thats what I remember." "I dont usually say this but you could tell in the bullpen," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "I kind of kept it to myself but I think Pat (Hentgen) knew as well. We were watching him warm up and you could see the action on the ball." As a knuckleballer, Dickey often is left to his own devices. He can confide in Thole and bounce ideas off Walker but because theyve never thrown the pitch, there is a limit to which they can offer advice. As he does with all of his pitchers, Walker studies video of Dickeys work. He keeps a checklist with him, provided by Dickey, which details Dickeys mechanics. If Walker notices anything off kilter, even in the slightest, he provides Dickey with feedback. "There are some things he does like a traditional pitcher," said Walker. "Anytime he gets out of whack his front side will open up a little too soon, hell get underneath the ball a little too much and that ball will tend to stay up in the zone and take off on him. Like a traditional pitcher, when he stays closed long enough and gets his arm through the zone where it should be, you know out in front consistently, he gets the action that hes looking for." Dickey often travels into the clubhouse in-between innings to watch video. "So I can make an in-game adjustment," said Dickey. "But sometimes the differences are microscopic. Its the difference in an inch or two landing or an inch or two in my wrist position. I mean, thats what youre up against when you tackle becoming a knuckleball pitcher because you have to go through some things you dont have to go through as a conventional pitcher. Thats just part of the territory." Dickey spent most of the first two months pitching in pain. He had what can best be described as a strain on the right side of his upper back, pain he first felt in Kansas City in his third start of season. Being a knuckleballer coming off a Cy Young award was both a blessing and a curse. Throwing a knuckleball isnt as strenuous on the body so Dickey was able to pitch through the injury. Having been a conventional pitcher early in his career, Dickey says the pain would have sent the old him to the disabled list. On the flip side, hes struggled to live up to lofty expectations. With an overall record of 7-8, an ERA of 4.72 and 41 walks – an unusually high number based on his standard – Dickey has heard the jeers from frustrated Blue Jays fans and accepts them as a reality of the business hes chosen. He, too, has been frustrated. Now, hes focused on building off Wednesdays start and continuing the correction of the bad mechanical habits he developed because of the pain in his neck. "Sometimes its tough, especially when youre thinking about trying to throw without pain," said Dickey. "When youre trying just to throw a ball and not have pain in your back, you know, youre distracted maybe from being able to be in the moment with your mechanic." Now healthy, Dickey expects to be better in the seasons second half. Recent starts in San Francisco and, of course, Wednesday in Tampa Bay suggest hes on the right track. His next test wont be easy. Dickey is scheduled to start Mondays Canada Day matinee, at home, versus the offensively potent Detroit Tigers. Dominic Solanke Jersey . LOUIS -- When Braves second baseman Tyler Pastornicky backpedaled into shallow right field to catch the popup and Jason Heyward didnt arrive fast enough to take charge, Kolten Wong got the green light. Mohamed Salah Liverpool Jersey .Impact president Joey Saputo confirmed Thursday that he is part of a group of investors whose offer to buy the 105-year-old Italian club was accepted by the teams board of directors.MIAMI - The Colorado Rockies erased a two-run deficit in the early innings Tuesday. A second comeback bid fell short. Miami relievers retired three batters with the potential tying run in scoring position in the eighth inning, and the Marlins beat Colorado for the second night in a row, 4-3. A.J. Ramos struck out Nolan Arenado with runners at the corners to end the eighth, protecting a one-run lead. Steve Cishek converted his 30th consecutive save opportunity and first of the year by pitching a perfect ninth. "We didnt get the big hit late," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Bottom line is we have to find a way to tie that game or take the lead." The Rockies trailed 4-2 before Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gonzalez hit consecutive doubles to start the eighth. Troy Tulowitzki flied out, and Justin Morneau grounded out. Ramos came on to walk Wilin Rosario, and then struck out Arenado looking. Nathan Eovaldi pitched six innings and the Marlins made the most of five hits. Their 2-0 start hints at big improvement from last year, when they began 14-41 en route to a 100-loss season. For the Rockies, the 0-2 start seems like more of the same after they finished last in the NL West in 2013. Miamis rotation — the youngest in the majors — stifled the Rockies for the second game in a row. Eovaldi (1-0) allowed two runs and struck out six after Jose Fernandez limited Colorado to one run in the season opener. Eovaldi gave up six hits, walked one and reached 99 mph on the radar gun. The crowd of 15,906 made for a more subdued atmosphere than Mondays opener, which Miami won 10-1. Brett Anderson (0-1) pitched six inningss and allowed four runs, three earned. Trent Alexander-Arnold Jersey. It was the left-handers first start with the Rockies after he was acquired in a trade with Oakland in December. Miami went ahead for good in Andersons final inning. Reed Johnson pinch-hit for Eovaldi and led off with a double. He advanced on a groundout and scored when Stanton hit into a forceout. Stanton advanced on a throwing error by second baseman D.J. LeMahieu, stole third and scored on Casey McGehees two-out single. "There werent too many pitches that I would take back," Anderson said. "It didnt fall our way tonight. The outing, Ill take it. I felt I gave us a chance to win. We just came up a little short at the end." The Rockies tied the game in the fourth on a run-scoring double by Tulowitzki, a scratch single by Morneau and a sacrifice fly by Rosario. Newcomer Morneau had three hits. With the score 2-all, Anderson reached on a bloop double in the fifth for his first major league hit, but Eovaldi escaped by retiring Drew Stubbs and Cuddyer. "I got to second and I didnt know what to do after that," Anderson joked. NOTES: Tulowitzki went into the hole at shortstop to rob Marcell Ozuna of a hit on a grounder in the fifth. ... Rockies RHP Jordan Lyles will be activated to start Wednesday in place of RHP Tyler Chatwood, who is out with a left hamstring strain. RHP Henderson Alvarez will make his first start for the Marlins since throwing a no-hitter on the final day of the 2013 regular season. ... LHP Franklin Morales will start Thursday at Miami for the Rockies, and RHP Juan Nicasio will start their home opener Friday against Arizona. 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- Created: Aug 7 '18
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