“You’ve got to have a really small zone”, Healy said.
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Toronto got a run back in the second, taking advantage of a throwing error by catcher Vogt, on a ball nubbed just in front of home plate.
“I don’t think it’s any secret things haven’t gone as you would hope the majority of the year”, Gray said. “I was trying to find the speed it was moving most and today it was the harder one”. Healy made his major league debut and started at third Friday in place of UTIL Danny Valencia, who will see more time at first base, designated hitter and possibly left field.
“If I can subtract that homer, we win the game”, Dickey said. Justin Smoak led off the ninth with his 10th homer, cutting Oakland’s lead to 5-4. I’m not sure he got all of it and, in retrospect, there’s not a lot of history on the guy.
A’s rookie right-hander Daniel Mengden gave up seven runs (six earned) on six hits and lasted only 3 1/3 innings.
Healy crushed a 66 miles per hour pitch off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (7-10) for his three-run shot to left that highlighted a four-run rally in the bottom of the second inning.
Dickey hadn’t allowed a three-run homer this season. “He was giving up fly balls and that can be your enemy”. The Athletics have allowed 11 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in eight of their last 12 games. “He said he’s feeling pretty good”, Gibbons said. “I’ll ride it as long as I can”. He’s hitting.230 with 12 home runs in 65 games this years.
In a 2-2 count, Dickey threw a 66-mph pitch that fluttered back over the middle of the plate, and Healy yanked it into the left-field seats for a three-run homer, his first major-league hit.
Davis went 3-for-4, drove in three runs and scored once, while Vogt went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and scored twice. Mengden, who took a no-decision, is 1-4 with a 5.54 ERA in his first seven career starts.A’s relievers Liam Hendriks, John Axford, Marc Rzeczynski, Ryan Dull and Ryan Madson combined to blank Toronto over the final 5 2/3 innings. With a record of 8-7 and a 2.47 ERA for the Padres this season, he already has logged 102 innings in 17 starts.
The three home runs were just enough to make a victor of Gray, who pitched six innings and ended a streak of 12 winless starts.
Edwin Encarnacion is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, making his future in Toronto uncertain. Replay officials rejected Melvin’s argument.
Oakland answered with a run in bottom of the third on Reddick’s home run to center with two outs, but Toronto scored four times in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. The Jays won’t do anything close to that, but word is, the Jays might be amenable to a “Cespedes type deal”, meaning three years for around $25 million a year on average. The only downside is that his career high in innings is 133, which means the Blue Jays will closely monitor his workload in the second half of the season and will likely force him into the bullpen at some point.
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The Blue Jays thought they had solved the Marcus Stroman mystery, but in his first start after the All-Star break Friday, the plot thickened. He is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts since coming off the disabled list (left groin strain) on July 1. Mengden (1-4, 4.54 ERA, 1.374 WHIP, 9.3 K/9) has been solid for the Athletics in his first season.
