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TORONTO -- R. Mark Gastineau .A. Dickey won his third consecutive decision on Tuesday but he is still frustrated with his inability to get through the seventh inning. "I get a good 18 hours to beat myself up and then its time to turn the page and enjoy that we won the game," Dickey said after he failed to retire any of his four batters in a three-run seventh inning by the Cleveland Indians. "I do have an expectation of myself thats better than what Im producing." With Juan Francisco and Adam Lind each driving in two runs and left fielder Melky Cabrera throwing out a runner at the plate to end the eighth inning, the Blue Jays defeated the Indians 5-4. Dickey (4-3) allowed five hits, two walks, one hit batsman and four runs-- two earned-- in six-plus innings. "The good news is I feel like Im pounding the zone and pitching to contact and I had a great knuckleball," Dickey said. "But I am not making it easy on myself or my team in those later innings. "Quite frankly, I feel a little bit embarrassed that I havent been able to get through seventh innings with some of the stuff that Ive hadaI had some really good change-ups tonight and had a swing and miss knuckleball and was pounding the zone and on a different night I might have been able to go seven or eight." He has pitched seven innings once this season, a loss to the Houston Astros on April 10. Cleveland right-hander Justin Masterson (2-2) allowed six hits-- including Franciscos homer that snapped a 1-1 tie in the fifth-- three walks and five runs in 5 1/3 innings. "First time through the order he went through them really well," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He got a couple of balls up that they stayed on pretty well. We just couldnt get one big hit." The victory in the opener of the three-game series against the Indians (18-21) gave the Blue Jays (20-20) their second win in a row after dropping three straight to the Los Angeles Angels. The Indians appeared to be set to take Masterson off the hook for the loss and take the win away from Dickey with two out in the top of the eighth inning. But Cabrera cut down the potential tying run with his throw home. Clevelands Carlos Santana, who led off the inning with a single against left-hander Brett Cecil and took second on a passed ball, was out at the plate after Yan Gomes lined a single to left. "That was just heroic, thats what that was," Dickey said. "It saved the game." "It was possibly the game right there," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "They come back and tie it you never know whats going to happen." Casey Janssen pitched the ninth for his first save of the season in his second appearance after coming off the disabled list where he was placed Mar. 29 with a back problem. "Hes reliable," Gibbons said. "Its good to have him back." Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the third on a single to right by Nick Swisher. Jose Bautista made a tumbling attempt at a catch on the sinking drive that scored Mike Aviles, who singled with two out and took second on a walk to Michael Bourn. The Blue Jays tied the game in the fourth on a triple to left-centre by Jose Reyes and a sacrifice fly to the warning track in centre by Cabrera. Francisco hit a 1-0 sinker to right centre for his sixth homer of the season with one out in the fifth to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Francisco started at third base to get his left-handed bat into the lineup against Masterson and Brett Lawrie started at second base. The Blue Jays added three runs in the sixth, two on a slicing double by Lind to left centre that scored Cabrera, who led off with a walk, and Bautista, who had an infield single. Francisco doubled down the right-field line to score Lind. Masterson was pulled for left-hander Josh Outman after Lawrie walked. The Indians answered with three runs in the seventh after Dickey faced four batters without an out. "It seemed like the wheels were falling off but overall in the game he was tremendous," Toronto catcher Josh Thole said. Asdrubal Cabrera singled, David Murphy reached first on Lawries error on his sharp groundball, Gomes walked and Lonnie Chisenhall was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Left-hander Aaron Loup allowed a one-out single by Bourn and a sacrifice fly by Swisher to cut the lead to one. NOTES: The Blue Jays recalled outfielder Kevin Pillar from triple-A Buffalo where he was batting .305 with one home run and 19 RBI. Pillar started in centre field Tuesday while Colby Rasmus rested his mild right hamstring strain, but it seems unlikely he will need to go on the disabled list. a Infielder Jonathan Diaz, who played on Monday to give regular shortstop Reyes a rest, was returned on option to Buffalo. a Blue Jays right-hander Dustin McGowan (2-1, 4.63 earned-run average) will start Wednesday against right-hander Corey Kluber (3-3, 3.48 ERA). Leger Douzable . Ronaldo pounced on a loose ball inside the area to net the 82nd-minute equalizer -- his 23rd goal of the season for the league leaders. Karim Benzema put Madrid ahead at the Vicente Calderon Stadium after three minutes but, instead of wilting, Atletico hit back with two goals to take the lead by halftime. DeMario Davis . On your football team, you hope you have both in the extreme.WINNIPEG -- The coach and general manager of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers say wins are the only thing that will show whether theyve assembled a better team this season. "I want to say our fans are going to see a team that theyre proud of, that regardless of the outcome on each particular game, that the fans are going to leave the stadium knowing that we gave it all," GM Kyle Walters said Friday on one of the conference calls CFL teams are having with the media as they prepare for the new season. But there were no bold predictions as to whether the Bombers are a better team yet than they were last season. "Its all words until we hit four wins," said Mike OShea, the former Toronto special teams co-ordinator preparing for his rookie season as a CFL head coach. Last season, the Bombers tied their worst record ever in the 18-game schedule as they finished in the CFL cellar at 3-15. "What does better mean?" asked Walters. "Thats the beauty I guess of our line of work that better is quantifiable with wins and losses." The teams on-field balance sheet shows additions and subtractions since that last troubled season ended. General manager Joe Mack got his pink slip well before the final game and coach Tim Burke was sacked after it was all over. Since then, the biggest loss was defensive star Henoc Muamba. The Canadian linebacker who was Winnipegs top defensive player, top Canadian player and top player overall in 2013 signed with the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL. And one possible import replacement, former Tennessee Titan Gerald McRath, didnt pan out. He went to the teams mini-camp in Florida and the defensive staff didnt see what they were looking for in the veteran. "Its not something were worried about," said OShea, pointing to players still on the roster who can fill the hole. The Bombers also lost Canadian speciial teams linebacker James Green and import receiver Wallace Miles to the Ottawa Redblacks in the CFL expansion draft. Antwan Barnes. They lost receiver and 2012 CFL rookie of the year Chris Matthews to the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL but picked up free agent Nick Moore from the B.C. Lions, the third leading receiver in the CFL in 2013. They traded Canadian receiver Kito Poblah to the Lions for defensive back and four-time CFL all-star Korey Banks. The Bombers lost free agent offensive lineman Justin Sorensen, last seasons starter at centre, to the Edmonton Eskimos and are looking to use their second overall pick next week to select someone in the CFL draft they hope can be a starting centre. Overall though, Walters says this years draft offers a diminished pool because of rule changes regarding the NFL draft and red-shirted freshmen. "Youre going to see some real good players drafted next week," he said. "Theres just not the depth." The Bombers also struck out in every bid to land a bona fide starting CFL quarterback, although they insist theyre thrilled with former Saskatchewan backup Drew Willy, who has been guaranteed the job even before training camp starts. Both Walters and OShea were emphatic Friday that nothing will change that. "He demonstrated down in Florida to be very accurate," said OShea. "Hes not afraid to go down field . . . He took risks in practice. He didnt try to play it safe. . . He absorbed the playbook very quick. He showed some leadership, I dont forsee that changing from the start of training camp to the end." OShea said theyre not going into camp with a wait-and-see attitude. "What weve done in the off-season I believe is showing that were not waiting to see whats going to happen next, were taking a real active step in creating what we want to happen next," he said. ' ' ' |
