Homers from Lind, Johnson power Blue Jays
Dickey struggles with his control, allowing three runs, three walks, but feels good
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Cliff Lee and R.A. Dickey faced each other for the second time in the young Grapefruit League schedule Tuesday night at Bright House Field.
Lee allowed one run in three innings, while Dickey allowed three runs in four innings of work. The Blue Jays scored two runs in the sixth inning to take the lead en route to a 5-3 victory.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first against Dickey, who hit Freddy Galvis with a pitch, walked Ryan Howard and allowed an infield single to Marlon Byrd to load the bases. Bobby Abreu, who is fighting for a bench job, walked to score Galvis.
"I had a really good one today," Dickey said of his knuckleball. "The one that hit Galvis, it broke about three feet, broke right into his shoe. That's part of the deal. You get one, it catches and it goes that way. That's tough, but other than that, I felt good. It was similar to my last outing where the wind was really in my face so I was getting a lot of depth, which accounted for a lot of walks. But I felt strong, which is really all I care about right now."
Toronto tied the game in the second. Moises Sierra and Erik Kratz singled, and a fielder's choice put runners on second and third with two outs. Kevin Pillar followed with a single to left to easily score Sierra, but Phillies left fielder Domonic Brown threw a bullet to home plate to get Kratz.
Byrd crushed an opposite-field two-run home run to right in the third inning to give the Phillies a two-run lead, but Adam Lind hit a solo homer to right against Phillies right-hander B.J. Rosenberg in the fourth to make it a one-run game.
The Blue Jays scored two runs against Phillies right-hander Luis Garcia in the sixth to take the lead. Dan Johnson gave Toronto a two-run lead in the eighth when he homered to right against Cesar Jimenez.
Lee allowed three hits, one run and struck out two in three innings.
"It went good," Lee said. "I'm pretty happy with it."
Up next: Right-hander Brandon Morrow will make his first start of the spring when the Blue Jays host the Pirates on Wednesday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium. Morrow has made one appearance this spring, but it came out of the bullpen when he allowed one run over two innings vs Pittsburgh. Sergio Santos, Aaron Loup, Jeremy Jeffress, Chad Jenkins and Aaron Sanchez are also scheduled to pitch against the Pirates in a 1:05 p.m. ET start time. The Blue Jays will provide an exclusive webcast for the game.