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Blue Jays can’t beat David Price, as usual

By Bevan Hamilton

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Another rough outing from a Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher led to a disappointing loss on Saturday afternoon in Detroit.

R.A. Dickey gave up four runs in the first inning, which sealed the Jays’ fate against David Price.

Price didn’t appear to have his sharpest stuff in today’s game, yet he still had little trouble with Toronto’s offence.

63. 3. 39. Final. 8

The Blue Jays rotation has struggled the past two weeks and today was no different. Nine Tigers marched to the plate in the first inning, highlighted by a 2-run J.D. Martinez homerun.

While Dickey didn’t exactly settle down after that, he got out of trouble more effectively thanks to a couple double plays and heads-up plays by the infielders. He was pulled with two outs in the sixth, giving up five runs on 11 hits. Dickey walked two and struck out just one.

The other side was an entirely different story. It’s no secret Price has Toronto’s number. He hasn’t lost to the Jays since September 23, 2011. The superstar’s only mistake was a solo homerun by Kevin Pillar in the fifth. Price pitched seven innings, striking out seven in another great start. Toronto, one of the MLB’s best offences, looked off-balance against him throughout much of the game.

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Price’s career record against Toronto improved to 16-2.

The Tigers put the game out of hand in the eighth inning with three runs against Steve Delabar, helped in part by a Chris Colabello error which led to one unearned run.

Tigers first-baseman Alex Avila made a fantastic catch in the fourth inning. With the bases empty and two outs, Russell Martin popped a pitch up in foul territory. Avila tracked the ball down and made the catch, flipping into the seats. See for yourself:

Colabello made things semi-interesting in the ninth inning with a two-run home run against Jeff Ferrell, making his big-league debut.

Game Notes: 

  • Price now has more wins (16) against the Jays than any other active pitcher. His .888 winning percentage against the team is higher than any other pitcher in MLB history.
  • The Jays starting pitchers have given up 13 first-inning runs in the past three games
  • Dickey picked Ian Kinsler off of first base in the second inning, when Kinsler strayed too far from the bag
  • The Blue Jays uniforms had an American flag on the right arm to support Independence Day, much like the Boston Red Sox did in Toronto on Canada Day

D+. Dickey didn’t have his best stuff today, and it showed. He gave up four runs in the first inning and worked out of trouble every inning after that. Some things that plagued Dickey was the lack of movement on his knuckleball, proven by the 15 baserunners he allowed. The leadoff batter reached base in every inning except the sixth. However, to his credit, he laboured through and gave the Jays a longer outing than you would have thought after the first inning.. . <strong>R.A. Dickey</strong>. STARTING PITCHING

C-. Ryan Tepera threw one-and-a-third perfect innings in relief of Dickey, striking out two of the four batters he faced. Behind him, Delabar wasn’t good at all for the second straight outing. And Brett Cecil got an inning-ending double play to get out of Delabar’s jam.. . . RELIEVER

<strong>Chris Colabello</strong>. OFFENCE . D. Colabello’s ninth-inning shot didn’t really matter, but he had two hits and two RBIs on the day to continue his hot stretch. Devon Travis and Jose Reyes also had two hits. The hitters never got anything going against Price and they weren’t able to dig out of another hole their starting pitcher put them in..

MVJ: Ryan Tepera

Next: Does Jeff Samardzija Make Sense for Blue Jays?

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