Toronto Blue Jays' Kevin Pillar steals second base as Detroit Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias drops the ball during the first inning of a spring training baseball game on Thursday in Dunedin, Fla.Chris O'Meara/The Associated Press
Toronto knuckleballer R.A. Dickey was roughed up for four runs in five innings Thursday, and the Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 6-4.
After quickly retiring the Tigers in order in the first, the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner allowed two runs in the second on a single by James McCann and a throwing error by centre fielder Kevin Pillar.
Jose Iglesias hit a run-scoring single against Dickey in the fourth. Nick Castellanos homered in the fifth.
The 41-year-old Dickey yielded eight hits, walked one and struck out five on 100 pitches. He has a 5.02 ERA in four exhibition games.
"I couldn't really be more pleased with today's outing," he said. "You know, you try not to look at the results, really. And in a scenario like that, I wanted to get to 100 pitches and was able to do that. I was able to maintain my velocity through pitch 100 and felt great – could have gone right back out there."
Justin Smoak hit his fourth homer of spring training, connecting off starter Matt Boyd.
Blue Jays star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who left Wednesday's game against the Mets after being hit on the right hand with a pitch, took the day off. He said he will hit in the batting cage Friday and could return to the lineup before the end of the week.
"It was obviously scary for me, because when you get hit in the hand, anything can happen," Tulowitzki said. "Luckily, everything is okay."
Dickey said he expects to make one more start on the minor-league side to fine-tune before the season.
"Much like a marathoner, you're just kind of tapering," he said. "So instead of running a full marathon, I'll probably run a 5K or something – a two- or three-inning thing just to make sure all the parts are working like they should and then it'll be time to go. I'll be ready."