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MINNEAPOLIS - A second-straight Thursday start unfolded in close to the same fashion for struggling knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Four scoreless innings, a 0-0 tie, only to have things come undone in the fifth. Last week in a loss to Houston, it was a Robbie Grossman fifth inning home run that broke the goose egg. Thursday afternoon, ultimately a 7-0 loss to Minnesota, it was a one-out single by Brian Dozier which led to six-straight Twins reaching base (five hits, one walk), five of whom scored to prematurely end Dickeys day. He teetered throughout, pitching out of jams in the first and fourth, before the dam burst. "I would get count and then really try to finish guys and they would do a good job of laying off really good pitches," said Dickey. "I thought I got squeezed there a couple of pitches but outside of that it was one of those days where youre just not putting the whole game together." Most troubling is the walk total. Dickey issued five more free passes, bringing his season total to 15 in 23 innings, second-most in all of baseball behind Philadelphias A.J. Burnett. "Its certainly moving better at this point, believe it or not, than it was last year," said Dickey. "I feel like over the course of the season, like Ive got 190 innings left, so I truly believe all the peripheral numbers are going to even out." "I mean its pretty amazing you keep that thing in the zone, period," said manager John Gibbons. "He battles that. Thats a lot for him and hell cut down on those, Ive got no doubt about that but you think about it, to be able to throw that thing in the strike zone is pretty tough as it is. But theres no question thats been hurting him." Dickey admitted to being miffed with home plate umpire Chris Gucciones strike zone. At times he was the beneficiary, most notably on a full count, called third strike on Minnesotas Chris Colabello in the first, which stranded a runner at third base. He thought he had Jason Kubel struck out twice in the fifth, got neither call, and Kubel singled home Minnesotas second run. "Im letting some external something impact the inning," said Dickey. "Whether its a ball that I thought should have been a strike or a ball that gets through a hole but were fortunate the other guys are going well. This wont remain this way. Its just tough to weather." Gibbons tried to let Dickey work out of the fifth but after the Kubel single, Josmil Pinto cracked a double off the wall in left-centre that scored two. "Dickeys our guy, its early," said Gibbons. "Hes here to get out of those innings and win games." "I really respect that," said Dickey. "Im appreciative of the opportunity to let me get through the fifth there. I take great pride in trying to go at least six innings in every start and so far this year in two of my four I havent been able to do that and hes given me every opportunity. As the season progresses those decisions, Ill make those pay off for him." Dickey threw a higher number of fastballs than usual. According to BrooksBaseball.net, 25 of his 112 pitches were fastballs, which he didnt attribute the cool conditions - the temperature was zero Celsius at first pitch. "It wasnt ideal but it wasnt something where I was coming in trying to soak my fingers in warm water to try to keep them warm," said Dickey. "I just didnt execute when I needed to make a big pitch and they put good swings on it." "I think it was just trying to balance the velocity of the knuckleball with the fastball so youre trying to throw a few more mid-count fastballs just to try to get them off of (the knuckleball,)" said catcher Josh Thole. Dickeys ERA ballooned from 5.30 to 6.26 in the loss. He dropped to 1-3 on the season, a decision in each start, each decision accurately reflecting the quality of his outing. The Jays starting staff, combined, has a 4.06 ERA through 15 games. Subtract Dickeys 16 earned runs allowed and his 23 innings pitched, the ERA drops to 3.20. "Im traditionally a slow starter and hopefully I can get back on track next time," said Dickey. Stitched NBA Jerseys .Y. - Sven Andrighetto scored once and set up two more as the Hamilton Bulldogs hung on to defeat the host Adirondack Flames 5-3 on Tuesday in American Hockey League action. NBA Jerseys Wholesale . -- Henry Josey watched helplessly from the sideline last fall, rehabbing from a serious knee injury, while Missouri was getting pushed around in its first SEC season. http://www.cheapnbaauthenticjerseys.com/. - Joao Plata scored twice in the final 24 minutes, including the winner in stoppage time, to help Real Salt Lake remain unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over the winless Chicago Fire on Saturday night. NBA Jerseys China . Cellino was ordered by a judge to pay a 600,000 euro ($800,000) fine for evading import taxes on a yacht he purchased in the United States and brought to Italy, the ANSA news agency reported. NBA Jerseys Authentic Cheap .Dawson also birdied two of the last four holes to reach 12-under 132 on TPC San Antonios AT&T Canyons Course. He won his only title in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in 2002 in the Web.com Tours LaSalle Bank Open.Im not going to lose any sleep, believe me, Dawson said. I used to be a perfectionist, but my attitude now is to play like Im in the pro-am.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Rudy Gay said he didnt harbour a sense of revenge Wednesday night facing his former team -- the Toronto Raptors-- for the first time since a December trade. His numbers said it all. DeMarcus Cousins had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Gay added 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the Kings held off the Raptors in the fourth quarter for a 109-101 victory. The Dec. 9 trade brought Gay, Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray to Sacramento in exchange for Patterson, John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez and Chuck Hayes. The trade has worked well for both teams. Since the shake-up, the Raptors have compiled an 18-11 record and own the third best overall record in the Eastern Conference. They had an 8-12 mark before the deal. Gay has thrived in his role as a key figure offensively. The versatile forward has averaged 20.7 points and shot 53 per cent in his first 25 games with the Kings. Gay wasnt nearly as effective with the Raptors, shooting just under 39 per cent in his second season in Toronto. "It was great to see Rudy have such a successful game tonight," said Gray, who didnt play. "No matter what the scenario, its really important when you go against your ex-team. You always want to show them what theyre missing. I think Rudy did that." Toronto coach Dwane Casey wished his team was a little more focused on effort rather than the socializing that took place between the two teams. "I just thought our whole disposition was off. Were out there hugging and giving out fives and all that," Casey said. "Well, this is a business. I didnt think our disposition at the beginning of the game was in fighting mode or hungry mode. We havent done anything, Ill keep repeating this, we havent done anything in this league yet." The Kings led by 20 points going into the final quarter, when Toronto got going offensively and cut the lead to five points with under a minute to play. But the Kings conveerted six consecutive free throws in the final minute to seal their second straight victory after losing seven straight.dddddddddddd "I think we kept our composure, were very poised down the stretch, and came out with a good home victory," Cousins said. Kyle Lowry had 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Raptors, who had won four of their last five. Demar DeRozan scored 18 points, Patrick Patterson 14 and Steve Novak 12, all in the fourth quarter. DeRozan, who entered the game averaging 22 points, shot 5 of 17. He added six rebounds and four assists. Novak played only 34 seconds through three quarters, but in the fourth he hit three three-pointers, helping the Raptors outscore the Kings 29-17. "The game was bizarre; we made it interesting," Kings coach Michael Malone said. "Im glad they didnt play Steve Novak more or it would have been a long night." Isaiah Thomas added 23 points for the Kings and guard Marcus Thornton had 12, all in the first half. Thornton hit the floor hard at the offensive end late in the second quarter and didnt return. He bruised hip and knee in the fall, but X-rays were negative. He may get an MRI on Thursday. New NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who took over for David Stern on Saturday as the leagues fifth commissioner, attended the game. He drew a standing ovation when he was introduced to the sellout crowd Before the game, Silver toured Sacramentos planned downtown arena and sat with the Kings new ownership group during a portion of the game. NOTES: The Kings played without reserve forward Derrick Williams, who was out with a strained right foot. ... Despite shooting 37.5 per cent in the first quarter, Sacramento still led 30-23. ... Lowry was called for a technical midway through the second quarter. ... Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star, sat courtside with William Bell, the mayor of Birmingham, Ala. ' ' '