Dickey leads way as Blue Jays beat Angels 8-4
TORONTO -- The Blue Jays haven't enjoyed many solid pitching performances this season.
R.A. Dickey turned in one of his best on Thursday night.
The right-hander snapped a two-start losing streak with a complete game, Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run home run and Toronto beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-4.
"We've been waiting for one of those," manager John Gibbons said. "Dickey was outstanding."
Danny Valencia added a solo homer as the Blue Jays won for the second time in nine games.
Dickey (2-5) allowed four runs and five hits, walked two and struck out a season-high seven.
"I had a lot of late movement tonight, something I haven't had for probably the last month," Dickey said.
The knuckleballer paid credit to pitching coach Pete Walker for helping him make an adjustment between starts.
"Pete has been integral," Dickey said. "He was able to catch some stuff on video. I would not have caught it on my own."
It was Dickey's first nine-inning complete game since June 26, 2013, when he beat Tampa Bay.
Marc Krauss homered on Dickey's third pitch of the game, but the Angels didn't score again until the seventh.
"He had that thing moving pretty good," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Dickey's knuckleball. "We got off to a good start but we just couldn't get much more going."
David Freese hit a two-run homer and Marc Krauss added a solo shot for Los Angeles, which had won nine of its previous 11 in Toronto.
Angels right-hander Matt Shoemaker (3-4) allowed a season-high eight runs, seven earned, and eight hits in six-plus innings. Shoemaker has allowed two or more homers in three of his past four starts and has surrendered an AL-worst 13 in eight starts.
"Everything is kind of going bad right now," Shoemaker said. "I've just got to find a way to get out of it."
Starting in place of Albert Pujols (left hand), Krauss hit a second-deck homer in the first. Freese hit a two-out, two-run blast in the ninth, the 11th homer allowed by Dickey and the sixth he's given up in his past three starts.
Valencia tied it with a leadoff drive in the third. Ryan Goins followed with a double and scored when Shoemaker made an errant throw to first on Steve Tolleson's bunt single.
Toronto pulled away with four runs in the fifth. Jose Bautista hit an RBI single and Encarnacion followed with a blast to left, his 10th.
"We missed with a lot of pitches over the middle of the plate and that's kind of a recipe for not a good game," Angels catcher Chris Iannetta said.
Freese hit an RBI double in the seventh but the Blue Jays chased Shoemaker and added two more in the bottom half. Bautista hit a sacrifice fly off Vinnie Pestano and Kevin Pillar drove in a run with an infield single.
END OF THE LINE
Angels SS Erick Aybar went 0 for 4, ending his hitting streak at 11 games.
MR. MAY
Encarnacion has hit 38 home runs in May since 2011, the most by any major leaguer.
WEB GEMS
Angels OF Matt Joyce made a diving catch in foul territory in left to retire Blue Jays C Josh Thole for the final out of the second, and Kole Calhoun made a diving catch in right to get Pillar for the final out of the fifth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Pujols was held out of the lineup a day after bruising his left hand when he was hit by a pitch from Toronto's Drew Hutchison. Pujols did not take batting practice and hopes to return Friday at Boston.
Blue Jays: SS Jose Reyes (left ribs) went 1 for 4 in six innings of his first rehab game with Triple-A Buffalo. ... 2B Devon Travis (left shoulder) missed his fifth straight game.
UP NEXT
Angels: RHP Garrett Richards will face the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday night, his first start there since suffering a torn tendon in his left knee in August, 2014. Richards is 3-2 with a 2.29 ERA in six starts. RHP Rick Porcello (4-2, 4.26) starts for Boston.
Blue Jays: RHP Marco Estrada (1-2, 3.55) makes his fourth start of the season as Toronto begins a three game series against Seattle. Estrada has yet to pitch more than five innings. His opponent will be Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez (6-1, 2.30).
