BLAST IT! The Blue Jays’ R.A. Dickey, who later gave up a two-run home run to Lyle Overbay that handed the Yankees a 3-2 win, reacts after Brennan Boesch’s solo shot in the second inning of yesterday’s game. (
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The Mets still aren’t very good, so maybe R.A. Dickey can take some solace in that.
Because his move to Toronto has not gone according to plan.
After serving up a two-run shot to Lyle Overbay in the seventh inning of the Blue Jays’ 3-2 loss to the Yankees, Dickey and his teammates will head back north of the border 9-17 and buried in last place in the AL East.
“It’s obviously incredibly disappointing for everybody,” Dickey said after falling to 2-4. “The beauty about baseball is it’s just one month. We’ve got five left, so there’s still time. … We know what needs to be done. It’s just a matter of doing it. If we can do it, great, and if not, we’re gonna be losers. That’s just the way it is.”
Yesterday, Dickey surrendered a solo homer to Brennan Boesch in the second inning. He retired 14 of the next 16 before Travis Hafner singled prior to Overbay’s blast.
Giving up the lead annoyed last year’s NL Cy Young Award winner, as did what happened immediately afterward.
Eduardo Nunez, scheduled to be up next, was delayed near the dugout while trainer Steve Donohue put eye drops in his eye. Dickey didn’t buy it and said it was a stalling technique for David Robertson to get ready for the top of the eighth.
“It’s fairly obvious to everybody Joe [Girardi] was trying to get [Nunez] to take some extra time to get Robertson warmed up in the bullpen,” Dickey said. “It’s just gamesmanship. It’s well within the confines of the rules, it’s just that the umpire needs to have a feel for the game and know what’s going on. It’s certainly not Joe’s fault. He’s doing what he can to get his team ready to win the game.”
Toronto manager John Gibbons eventually got home plate umpire Chris Conroy’s attention and Nunez wound up flying to left on the second pitch of his at-bat to end the inning.
Nunez insisted the timeout was justified.
“I had something in my eye,” Nunez said. “You can’t predict when you have something in your eyes. Why he said that, I don’t know.”
Regardless, the damage was done and Dickey, who signed a two-year, $25 million contract extension after he was traded by the Mets, must figure out how to help turn the season around.
He said he may get an MRI on his upper back, which has bothered him for nearly the entire season.
When asked if there was a sense of urgency, he said, “There better be.”