TORONTO - R.A. Dickey wasn't satisfied with his
no-decision Sunday or the Toronto Blue Jays' loss to the Oakland
Athletics, but the 2012 National League Cy Young Award-winner saw
improvement from previous starts at Rogers Centre.
The knuckleball-throwing right-hander got six strikeouts and stayed out of trouble most of the time when he kept pitches down in the zone.
"I really tried to abbreviate my stride and throw a knuckleball that would end up down, rather than a lot of times I try to put away guys with a high knuckleball, which has worked for me," Dickey said. "I was able to locate some balls down that I really tried, consciously, to do, and I was able to do it with good results. That was one thing.
"Two, I felt like I changed speeds a little bit more today throughout the range of knuckleballs that I usually throw. That was helpful."
Dickey entered the game with a 5.97 earned-run average at home. He vowed after his most recent home start to use the rest of the season to figure out ways to pitch better at Rogers Centre.
Even though Brandon Moss' home run in the sixth was the 19th Dickey gave up in 13 starts in Toronto, the 38-year-old called this an outing from which he can grow.
"I thought he did a nice job," manager John Gibbons said. "He gave us seven innings; it was a tight ballgame. He did his job."
Dickey considers it his job to give his team a chance to win. Until the sixth, it looked like he would be able to steal the game, but then Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Donaldson and Moss connected on pitches.
The knuckleball had helped him get through five scoreless innings. read more
By Stephen Whyno, The Canadian Press