John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Toronto Blue Jays will put their faith in last season’s Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey to put the Jays back in the win column against their division rival Baltimore Orioles tonight at Camden Yards. The Jays fell to the Orioles in Game 1 after a costly throwing error by shortstop Munenori Kawasaki in the ninth inning set up a walk-off hit by Nick Markakis.
Dickey was stellar in his last outing, limiting the Chicago White Sox to two hits and fanning seven over six innings of work. Dickey was lifted from that start for precautionary reasons as the hurler was experiencing stiffness in his back and neck. The Jays are indicating the injury is a non-issue and Dickey will be on the bump tonight to make his scheduled start.
Dickey is now 2-2 with a 4.30 earned run average after a slow start with his new team. He has been his dominating self in his last two starts, limiting the opposition to one run scored in 12 innings pitched. The knuckleballer will oppose Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez.
The last-place Blue Jays will need a solid start from Dickey against their division rivals, who sit perched in second place in the American League East. The Orioles are playing fundamentally sound baseball again this season and are only two games out of first place.
Dickey will look to work the kink out of his neck in hopes of putting a kink in the Orioles offense tonight.
Clayton Richer covers the Toronto Blue Jays for Rant Sports. Follow and interact with him on Twitter at @MLBHotCorner, Facebook, and Google Plus.
