BALTIMORE — Over his last ten starts, Toronto Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey has a 3.10 ERA. That’s good. In those same ten starts, the Blue Jays offence has averaged 2.8 runs per game. That’s bad.
That’s how the Blue Jays have lost seven of those 10 games, including a 4-2 decision to the Baltimore Orioles Saturday afternoon. And that’s how a pitcher like Dickey, who’s been entirely fine since the beginning of May but has been unfortunate enough to pitch on the days the Blue Jays bats aren’t alive, can seem a lot worse than he is.
“The wins and losses, you can’t… it’s just not a good stat for a pitcher,” Dickey said, accurately, after tossing six capable innings against the Orioles. “And I know I say that because I’m four games under .500. And if I was 10 games over, I might say it differently. It never feels good to lose a ballgame. But it’s somewhat satisfying to give your team a good chance to win a game against a good ball club.”
That’s exactly what Dickey has done each and every time he’s taken the mound since his rough and tumble April came to an end. Saturday afternoon was no exception, as Dickey threw his quintessential outing—relaxed at times, scary at others, and entirely effective in the aggregate.
After retiring his first batter of the day, Dickey allowed back-to-back doubles to Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado, which brought in a quick run. Machado moved to third on a ground ball and then scored when a knuckler got away from Josh Thole, spotting the Orioles a quick 2-0 lead.
But while the passed ball was unfortunate, luck was clearly on Dickey’s side for the next few innings. In the second, Pedro Alvarez smoked a 110-mph single into right field before J.J. Hardy squared up a knuckler that came off his bat at 97 mph, but skipped right to Josh Donaldson at third who began an inning ending double play.
Then, in the third, Joey Rickard reached on a liner and Adam Jones drove a ball 377 feet to right field, where Blue Jays outfielder Ezequiel Carrera leaped and stretched his glove over the wall to steal a home run before firing to first to double off Rickard. That play would turn out to be crucial as the next Orioles batter, Schoop, smashed a solo home run that could have been worth much more.
“The part that was so special about that play was the throw. The one-hopper right to Smoak,” Dickey said. “I mean, the catch was good. But what was so incredible was the throw. I tip my cap to him.”
Dickey cruised through the fourth and put two runners on with one out in the fifth, but worked his way out of it. The Orioles were generally able to put the knuckler in play, as Dickey struck out just two and exit velocities ranged above 90 mph for much of the afternoon, but batted ball luck wasn’t on their side.
And, as is often the case with Dickey, if you don’t concern yourself with how he got there, and just look at the end result, his day looks completely adequate. Six innings, seven hits, and two earned runs. That really should be good enough to win.
It was the 41-year-old’s fifth consecutive start allowing three earned runs or less, and he hasn’t allowed more than four in any outing since his rocky April, when he posted a 6.75 ERA over five rough starts. His ERA on the season now sits at 4.08 – the major league average for starters is 4.25.
“I want to do my job. That’s what everybody wants to do. You want to be dependable and trustworthy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to be for the Toronto Blue Jays,” Dickey said. “So, when you have a good run, you feel good about giving your team a consistent chance to win the ballgame. And I feel like that’s what I’m paid to do.”
But, as tends to happen to Dickey, the Blue Jays didn’t score for him on Saturday. He came into the game with an average run support of 2.8 runs, by far the worst of Toronto’s five starters, and the seventh-worst rate of any pitcher in baseball. In 2015 the Blue Jays average 4.6 runs behind him; in 2014 they averaged 4.8.
“For the most part, in my career as a Blue Jay, it’s been up and down with the run support. And that’s part of it. You’ve got to deal with that,” Dickey said. “I remember I had a 3.2 with New York and threw over 200 innings and was 8-13. That’s part of what you have to stomach as a competitor at this level. It’s just out of your control.”
The Blue Jays offence, so prolific of late, had its chances against Orioles starter Yovani Gallardo, working four walks and getting nine men on base in his five innings, but never landing a decisive blow. Carrera went deep in the third and Devon Travis drove in a Kevin Pillar with a double in the fourth, but Gallardo otherwise held the Blue Jays off the board.
Mychal Givens gave the Orioles some much-needed middle-inning relief, retiring six of the seven Blue Jays he faced, before Brad Brach worked a perfect eighth. Zach Britton came on for the ninth and demonstrated very little ability to throw a strike, but still managed to save the game despite loading the bases with one out, when he got Josh Donaldson to bounce into a double play.
“Good pitching today, no doubt about it. Gallardo’s always been tough on us,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “And they’ve got a dynamite bullpen, one of the best in baseball. When they get the lead late, a lot of times it stays that way.”