Dein erstes Forum » Dickey had been falling behind in that first inning

TORONTO – Minutes after Kevin Pillar played the hero in Monday nights 5-4 Blue Jays walk off win over the Twins, he alluded to a conversation he shared with Jose Bautista earlier in the evening. The two were in the batting cage moments before game time. Bautista was taking final warm up cuts. Pillar was hitting soft toss. The one-time utility player turned All-Star pulled aside the clubs young, fourth outfielder and offered him some advice. Pillar described it as a discussion about hitting. Bautista told him there was nothing wrong with his swing, that he should remain aggressive in the batters box in order that the pitcher doesnt get too comfortable. He reminded Pillar that in Pillars role, he could step to the plate in crucial, late-game situations. Sure enough, Pillar got the game-winning single to snap a 4-4 tie in the ninth inning. Sure enough, he remained aggressive, perhaps too much so early in the at-bat when Pillar swung at the first two pitches down and out of the strike zone. With the count 1-2, Pillar took a pitch on the outer half to right field, Erik Kratz came around to score and the Blue Jays celebrated. Pillar thought enough of the conversation to share it with the assembled media postgame. Bautista seemed surprised to be approached on the topic. "You hope to have an effect on all your teammates, no matter what you talk about or discuss," said Bautista. "Even if its, hey youre opening up a little bit or having a 10-minute talk about being mentally ready, preparation and mindset and all that. You hope that your teammates listen to you. You dont hope that they do exactly what you say and if you say hop on one foot they start doing it, but if you make a comment that you think is going to help you hope they at least listen. Digest it and if it helps and it works then so be it." The type of conversation Bautista had with Pillar is rare this season, according to Bautista, because the Blue Jays are laden with veterans. The need doesnt arise as often. This, too, is the second year the group has been together after being arranged in the flurry of high-profile offseason moves made in November and December, 2012. "I think each person is more knowledgeable of others capabilities, more realistic with the expectations," said Bautista. "I think last year, people didnt know what to expect exactly with other players. Expectations might have been a little unrealistic, sometimes on the higher end and sometimes on the lower end. Sometimes you might have expected more out of somebody and that might have been not right. Sometimes you expected less and the guys surprise you. So now I think everybody is more in tune with each others capabilities." DICKEY THROWING MORE FASTBALLS R.A. Dickey is using his fastball more this season than he did last year. Hes thrown a heater 14.3 per cent of the time in 2014, compared to 11.9 per cent last season. This years number is more reflective of his 2012 Cy Young award season with the Mets, when 14 per cent of his pitches were fastballs. "I think its conscious because Ive had a lot of high-pitch games," said Dickey. "I had a 31-pitch first inning against (the Twins on Monday night), I had like a 30-pitch against the Royals, first inning. I need to get back to trying to induce contact earlier in counts so in that regard it has been something that Ive consciously tried to do. Especially with teams, Minnesota for instance is a team that leads the league in pitches taken so whenever you have a club like that you want to try to get ahead of guys as much as possible." Dickey is also conscious of his walk rate, which has skyrocketed this year. Hes issued a free pass to 10.2 per cent of hitters hes faced, compared to 7.5 per cent last year and 5.8 per cent in 2012. In each of his last two starts, hes allowed home runs off his fastball. On June 4 in Detroit, Miguel Cabrera took him deep on a first pitch fastball in the first inning. On Monday night against the Twins, leadoff hitter Danny Santana hit a home run off a full count fastball. Dickey had been falling behind in that first inning in Detroit and thought he could sneak a heater by Cabrera. "That was just a roll of the dice," said Dickey. "I had gone 2-0 with the first two hitters and felt that he would want to get in a hitters count. I tried to steal a strike the first time through the lineup and his numbers off me, I think hes had like 14 at-bats and two first-pitch swings and so the percentages were in my favour that he was taking and so I tried to play to those and got burned." Half of the home runs Dickeys allowed this season, five of 10, have been off fastballs. Has he become too predictable, throwing fastballs when in need of a strike? "I would hope not because I try to do a good job of throwing a lot of 2-0, 3-1, 3-2 knuckleballs," said Dickey. "Im not in the habit of routinely throwing a fastball in a fastball count but because I dont feature the same velocity as a lot of guys its a lot easier to put the barrel on the ball if theyve seen multiple fastballs in an at-bat; if theyre not well located in particular." JAYS INK TWO MORE PICKS The Blue Jays locked up their second and fifth round picks from last weeks amateur draft. They are highly-touted right-handed pitcher Sean Reid-Foley (49th overall) out of Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville, Florida and centerfielder Lane Thomas (144th overall) out of Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. Both players are 18 years old. Custom San Diego Padres Jerseys . And like the near entirety of last season, Jonathan Bernier and Torontos goaltending tandem is up to the task. Rickey Henderson Jersey . -- Stacy Lewis shot 7-under 65 to lead the LPGA Tour team to the championship of the 3Tour Challenge on Tuesday. http://www.padressale.com/padres-dave-winfield-jersey/. -- Former NHL star Jeremy Roenick shot a second-round 69 to take the lead after 36 holes and former LPGA great Annika Sorenstam and Chad Pfeifer, who lost his left leg above the knee serving in Iraq, are among several players in contention in the American Century Championship tournament on Saturday. Eric Hosmer Jersey . -- Downcast before the final game of what had been a difficult road trip, the Ottawa Senators found a way to dig out a little momentum in the desert before heading home. San Diego Padres Jerseys . Patrice Bergeron and Daniel Paille scored 20 seconds apart a few minutes after Stamkos was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a broken right leg, and the Bruins beat the Lightning 3-0 on Monday afternoon.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The first time that Ohio States LaQuinton Ross took a shot, North Florida coach Matthew Driscoll knew it was going to be a long night. Ross broke out of a frigid shooting spell by scoring 17 points Friday night and the seventh-ranked Buckeyes rode a 19-point first-half run to a 99-64 victory over the overmatched Ospreys. "He hit that first 3 from the corner and I started thinking to myself, Oh, Lord. Here we go," said Driscoll, who has known Ross since he was in middle school. Ross hit 6-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-7 3-pointers after struggling all year to find his range. The 6-foot-8 junior with a silky touch had a terrific run in the NCAA tournament a year ago, coming off the bench to give the Buckeyes instant offence on the way to the regional championship game. This year he was expected to replace departed Big Ten scoring leader Deshaun Thomas, but came in shooting just 22 per cent from the field and averaging 6.2 points a game. Over the last the three games he was only 2 for 20 from the field including 1 for 8 behind the arc. But he came out cool and confident against the Ospreys. He hit all four shots from the field -- including both 3-pointers -- while picking up 10 points in the opening half as Ohio State built a 48-29 lead. Buckeyes coach Thad Matta couldnt have been happier to see the ice thaw on Ross jumper. "LaQuinton got into a little bit of a groove," he said. "He and I talked the other day. I just said, Look, we cant make shots for you. We cant think for you out there on the court. I told him we were going to put him in positions to be successful. He was probably humbled a little bit the way hes shot the ball the last few games. It was great to see the ball go in for him." From watching Ross on video, Driscoll said it appeared he was unsure of everything. "Sometimes when you watch him on tape, it looks like he might not be locked in, like he might not be sure what his role is, what shot he should taake," he said.dddddddddddd "Is it a good shot? Is it a bad shot? Am I (a guard)? Am I (a forward)? Should I go to the (NBA) early? Should I come back? To his credit, for some reason, he seemed to be locked in." Ross hot shooting carried over to the rest of the Buckeyes, too. They came in shooting 42 per cent on the season but shot 69 per cent against North Florida-- the sixth-best shooting percentage in program history. Amir Williams and Amedeo Della each hit career highs for the Buckeyes (6-0), with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Aaron Craft added 16 points, making his first 3-pointer of the season, while Lenzelle Smith Jr. had 10. "When guys see other guys make shots, it boosts everyones confidence," Smith said. "It makes everybody think, Why cant I be the guy to make the next shot? That stuff catches on fire and guys start swinging the ball and getting wide-open shots." Beau Beech and Dallas Moore each had 14 points and Charles McRoy 11 for North Florida (4-4), which fell to 0-16 against ranked teams and 0-6 against teams in the Top 10. The Buckeyes made their first eight shots from the field while overcoming a 6-5 deficit with a 19-0 run to take the lead for good. Craft had three layups, Williams and Smith Jr. each had five points and Ross hit a 3 in the spurt. North Florida came back to score 14 of the next 18 -- Beech hit two 3s and Davenport added one -- to cut the lead to 28-20. But the Buckeyes led 48-29 at the break and then scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second half with Ross scoring four early points. It was the 100th collegiate win for Craft and Smith Jr., who reached that figure in 119 games -- faster than any Ohio State player. "As I told the guys at shootaround, this game today was about getting those two guys their 100th win," Matta said. "If you stop and think about how quick they got there -- 119 games to get 100 wins -- its amazing. And Ive never been prouder of two guys." 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