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Dickey reaches 200, but Jays lose

Los Angeles 5 Toronto 4TORONTO — As a season to forget begins to wind down, R.A. Dickey achieved a small victory Wednesday.

Los Angeles 5 Toronto 4

TORONTO — As a season to forget begins to wind down, R.A. Dickey achieved a small victory Wednesday.

The Blue Jays knuckleballer tossed 5 1-3 innings in Toronto’s 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels to reach 200 innings for the third straight year.

“In the AL East you probably won’t find five or six guys who are able to top 200 innings,” said Dickey, who didn’t figure in the decision. “But it’s only a silver lining for a year that for the most part has been a struggle.”

C.J. Wilson (16-6) won his eighth straight decision and Kole Calhoun drove in two runs on sacrifice flies, including the deciding RBI in the eighth, as Los Angeles took it’s second straight against the Blue Jays.

Mark Trumbo also hit a two-run home run for the Angels (69-76) a night after going 5-for-5 with four extra-hits and five runs scored in Tuesday’s 12-6 series-opening victory. Moises Sierra had two doubles and a triple with an RBI for the Blue Jays (67-78), who had just four hits.

Wilson (16-6) allowed four hits, four walks and four runs (three earned) while striking out six over seven innings to improve to 12-1 in 17 starts since June 14.

“Of all the things we’ve talked about this year that haven’t worked out, C.J. is on the other side of that ledger,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of his left-hander. “He’s having just a terrific season, pitching deep into games. He’s going to (throw) 200-plus innings again. Every stat you look at is terrific for him.”

Dickey, meanwhile, allowed seven hits, two walks and four runs, but failed to pitch at least six innings for the first time in 15 starts.

“We took two leads and coughed both those up,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “I thought they were starting to lock up on him a little bit. I thought that his first inning was pretty good and they started to chip away and I thought it was enough.”

Dickey didn’t seem to agree with Gibbons’ though process.

“The manger’s decision is the manager’s decision,” said the right-hander. “You have to ask him why he does or doesn’t leave guys in or takes them out.

“I definitely felt I had more left in the tank for sure.”

The game was out of Dickey’s hands when reliever Steve Delabar (5-3) walked Mike Trout with one out in the eighth and Josh Hamilton moved him to third with a double to right.

Trumbo was intentionally walked to load the bases and Calhoun hit a sacrifice fly to left to put the Angels up 5-4.

Ernesto Frieri induced three pop flies in the ninth for his 32nd save.

Dickey has thrown 202 1-3 innings this season with a record of 12-12 and an earned-run average of 4.36. Toronto left-hander Mark Buehrle has pitched 189 1-3 innings this season and is closing in on his 13th consecutive season with 200 or more innings.

“It’s hard to throw that many innings and not give your team consistent chances to win ball games and that’s always something that’s nice,” Dickey said. “The innings need to be quality innings and for a lot of the year they have been and for some of the year they haven’t been so there’s a lot for me to improve on.

“But the one thing can is say is that you were able to take the ball every time it was your turn. That dependability I think is worth something, that durability. Mark Buehrle, this might be his 13th year (with 200 innings) and it’s hard to do that — in the AL East in particular.”

The Blue Jays scored three runs in the first after Rajai Davis walked with one out and Adam Lind walked with two out. Sierra doubled in a run. Mark DeRosa singled to shortstop Erick Aybar score one run and Sierra came around to score and DeRosa took second on the wild throw to first.

“In the first inning I was really erratic,” Wilson said. “I’d try to throw the ball down and away and it would be down the middle, and then I’d try to throw the ball down the middle and it would be out of the strike zone, so there are some issues with that.”

The Blue Jays scored three runs in the first after Rajai Davis and Adam Lind walked and Sierra doubled in a run. Mark DeRosa singled to Erick Aybar to score one run and Sierra added Toronto’s third on the shortstop’s wild throw to first.

Trumbo hit a towering two-run homer to centre in the second after Hamilton led off with a walk. It was Trumbo’s second homer of the series and his 33rd of the season.

The Angels tied the game 3-3 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to centre by Calhoun that scored Trout from third.

The Blue Jays regained the lead a 4-3 in the bottom of the inning when Sierra tripled and continued home on an error by third baseman Andrew Romine.

The Angels tied the score again in the fifth when Aybar’s sacrifice fly to left scored Grant Green.

Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 17,994. .... Blue Jays 1B Edwin Encarnacion (left wrist) missed his third game in a row. No date has been set for a return and it is possible his season could be over. ... LHP J.A. Happ (3-5, 5.5 earned-run average) will pitch Thursday’s series finale for the Blue Jays against Angels’ RHP Garrett Richards (6-6, 3.90 ERA). ... The Baltimore Orioles open a three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Friday.