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R.A. Dickey solves Boston Red Sox; Toronto Blue Jays win fourth straight

By Mike Shalin, The Sports Xchange
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher R.A. Dickey (43). Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher R.A. Dickey (43). Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

BOSTON -- This time, things ended differently for R.A. Dickey and his Toronto Blue Jays.

Last Sunday in Toronto, the knuckleballer no-hit the Boston Red Sox for 5 1/3 innings before the next five batters reached, Dickey was gone and Boston went on to an 11-inning victory.

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Friday night at Fenway Park, Dickey pitched five no-hit innings before David Ortiz led off the sixth with a double. But on this night, Dickey made it through 6 2/3 and got the win as the Jays notched their fourth straight victory, downing the Red Sox 5-2.

"It's no difference. Sometimes baseball happens that way," Dickey said after ending a nine-start winless streak against Boston, a team he beat four times in 2014. "It's like if you unpack it, sometimes it goes your way and you get a break and sometimes you don't get a call or a ball bounces through a hole, even though it was a ground ball, a good pitch -- I got a couple breaks tonight.

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"I've seen those breaks kinda turn over the last month for me a little bit, which is consistent with my history a little bit. The weather warms up that ball starts to move around a little bit more."

He likes the way his knuckler has been moving, saying: "I've had a pretty good one, tonight in particular, gosh it was moving quite a bit."

It moved to the tune of a season-high five walks. But Dickey, 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA in his last nine starts against Boston, gave up only two hits and an unearned run (on a passed ball) and recorded his first win in four starts, his second since opening the season with a win.

"He's on a nice little role. He's definitely pitched better than his record indicates," Toronto manager John Gibbons said.

Edwin Encarnacion and Devon Travis hit two-run homers and Roberto Osuna struck out potential tying-run Xander Bogaerts, ending the game and Bogaerts' 26-game hitting streak.

It also ended a rare win for the Jays against David Price (7-2), who finished last season with Toronto before signing the big contract with the Red Sox. Price, a close friend of Dickey's, fell to 17-3 lifetime against the Jays but hasn't beaten them in three starts this season.

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"We know our offense is going to strike at some point and R.A. had his knuckleball going today and the bullpen came in and threw the ball extremely well as well," Price said. "You're not going to win them all and that was a tough game."

The two homers -- one off Price and the other off Koji Uehara -- were the eighth and ninth yielded by the Boston staff over their last two games as their third straight loss dropped them into a virtual tie with the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the American League East. The Red Sox led the Orioles by three games before losing the last two in Baltimore.

The Jays have won 11 of their last 14.

Bogaerts was ahead 3-0 when he fanned to end the game, swinging at ball four with David Ortiz on deck. Bogaerts was robbed of a hit on a nifty play by shortstop Darwin Barney in the first inning and had two walks and a strikeout.

Three relievers finished up for the Jays. Boston scored a run off Joe Biagini in the eighth but Osuna got the last four outs for his 13th save in 14 chances. He has thrown 17 straight scoreless innings.

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Encarnacion crushed his 11th homer of the season as Price lost for the first time in five starts since teammate Dustin Pedroia picked up a flaw in his delivery. He threw a season-high 114 pitches and walking a season-high four in seven innings, but has averaged two earned runs per start in the five turns and lost for the first time since May 7.

Travis, out until May 25 because of a shoulder surgery, ended an 11-pitch at-bat with a hefty shot off Uehara -- his first homer of the season.

Ortiz also doubled in the eighth -- his 500th and 501st doubles in a Red Sox uniform.

NOTES: Red Sox CF Jackie Bradley Jr. was activated from the paternity list after missing four games for the birth of his first child. LF Rusney Castillo was sent back to Pawtucket. Bradley went 0-for-4. ... Toronto RHP Marcus Stroman, who beat the Red Sox his last time out despite allowing 11 hits and seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, faces RHP Steven Wright in Saturday's second game of the series. Both pitchers have won their last two starts. Wright has recorded all three of Boston's complete games this season. ... Toronto manager John Gibbons hinted his club will stick with its eight-man bullpen until SS Troy Tulowitzki (quad) returns from the disabled list next week. ... Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia's ninth-inning single extended his hitting streak against Toronto to 24 straight games. ... Friday night was Pride Night at Fenway Park.

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