43 R.A. Dickey, SP

Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey, who allowed seven runs in his previous start, bounced back to earn his sixth win Saturday afternoon against the Rangers.

Dickey (6-8) pitched five scoreless innings before allowing a run on a fielder's choice in the sixth. He surrendered a run on seven hits and three walks while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings of a 6-1 win.

Dickey has allowed one run or fewer in two of his last three starts. He is scheduled to make his next start Friday at home against the Orioles.

The Blue Jays have moved Josh Johnson back to Sunday due to a blister. R.A. Dickey, who was scheduled to start Sunday, will take the mound Saturday on normal rest against the Rangers.

Dickey is 1-3 with a 6.58 ERA in his last four starts. He has struck out 11 and walked seven in his last 26 innings pitched.

The Blue Jays will move their starters back one day each, following Wednesday's rainout, according to manager John Gibbons. 

Esmil Rogers will pitch Thursday against the Rangers, with Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson and R.A. Dickey being moved a day back each in the Rangers series. Chien-Ming Wang will make his second start against Colorado Monday to open that series. 

By now, R.A. Dickey's Fantasy owners are so tired of his inconsistencies that any excuse the Blue Jays ace makes for a bad start is sure to fall on deaf ears. But I've got to tell you, this latest one about the heavy fog in Chicago Monday costing him the movement on his knuckleball makes sense.

It's a big reason why we don't see more knuckleballers in the big leagues. If the pitch isn't thrown perfectly, it's just a really slow fastball that gets hit 440 feet, as Adam Dunn demosntrated twice Monday. Unconventional weather conditions are cause for imperfection, and Dickey has blamed them before. After giving up eight earned runs over 4 1/3 innings in a rain-drenched game at Atlanta last year -- yes, his Cy Young season -- Dickey compared pitching in those conditions to throwing water balloons.

So what's his excuse for all those other bad starts? Well, he had a back issue that prevented him from throwing his knuckleball at the variety of speeds that made him so effective last year. He said he was finally able to overcome it last time out, when he two-hit the Giants over 8 1/3 innings.

Given the external forces at work with Dickey this year, we haven't given him a fair look. Maybe you bench him until he strings together two or three good starts, but you don't drop him.

Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey gave up seven runs over five innings Monday, dropping the knuckleballer to 5-8 with a 5.11 ERA. But Dickey told MLB.com that a thick fog enveloping the field for much of the game was to blame for the sub-par outing. 

"For me, it's just the dampness, the moisture," Dickey said. "The knuckleballs were leaving my hand good but just not doing anything at the plate. That was probably the biggest difficulty. I felt fine, it's just that the ball wasn't breaking."

Dickey's next start is Saturday against Texas. It will be his first time facing the Rangers this season.