Jays lose to Astros 4-3: R.A. Dickey throws 5 scoreless innings

Blue Jays 3 Astros 4

Happy Thoughts:

• R.A. Dickey went 5 innings, allowed just 4 singles and a walk, with 4 strikeouts. He threw about 80 pitches, so pretty close to ready for the season. He looked good.
• Erik Kratz was 2 for 4, with a double and 2 RBI. He had 1 passed ball and there was 1 wild pitch, with Dickey on the mound, but I didn't think he looked bad behind the plate. I am pulling for him to win the backup catcher job, and not only because of Turkey Bacon
• Maicer Izturis was 2 for 3 and made a nice play at third, early in the game. He's batting .286 now.
• Melky Cabrera was 1 for 4, but it was a hard hit double and he hit the ball hard a couple of other times.
• Jose Bautista was 1 for 3, with a ground rule double and a walk.
• Cabrera (.375), Bautista (.400), Encarnacion (.304), Sierra (.300) and Kratz (.385) are all hitting .300. It would be nice to see more walks, but it is still early in the spring, guys are swinging more to get their timing down.

Less Happy Thoughts:

• Sean Nolin gave up 3 hits, including a home run and a walk in his inning.
• Jeremy Jeffress pitched a nice 7th inning (around a Jonathan Diaz error), but his second inning didn't go as well. He got 2 quick outs, a strikeout and a ground out. Then a ground ball single bounced through the infield and Kenny Wilson, in left field, missed a fly ball, turning a fairly easy out into a double. Another single gave the Astros the lead. I thought Jeffress looked good, but got a bit unlucky.
• Ryan Goins was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and didn't look good at the plate, but he teamed with Jose Reyes to make a very nice double play in the 4th inning. His defense has been great, but I would like him to do better than an empty .200 at the plate.
• Kevin Pillar was 1 for 3, with a strikeout. He did have the single but he didn't look good at the plate.
• Diaz made a bad throw from short, though I thought first baseman Dan Johnson could have helped him out, if he would have made a not so tough scoop on the throw in the dirt.
• Kenny Wilson had the fly ball that he missed and then he threw it to no one, after he did pick it up.

Jays are now 5-6 on the spring. 

Tomorrow the Jays have one of those rare spring days off, or at least a day off from having an official game. Tuesday is a split squad day, playing the Tigers and the Canadian Junior Team. It looks like neither game will be on TV or on MLB.tv, but the Tigers game will be on MLB Audio.