Toronto Blue Jays catcher Josh Thole (22) points and celebrates after hitting a home run during the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.Kim Klement
Two familiar players were reunited here at Tropicana Field on Monday night – knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey and knuckleball-catching specialist Josh Thole.
They have essentially been each other's shadows for the last six seasons now, separated by the odd bit of anxiety on behalf of the poor sap who is called in to try to replace Thole behind the plate when it is Dickey's turn to work.
Thole has always seemed to get paired with Dickey, ever since their days together with the New York Mets.
Last season for the Toronto Blue Jays, the function of catching Dickey fell primarily to Russell Martin, Toronto's No. 1 catcher who made it his mission to learn the nuances of tracking down Dickey's unpredictable floater.
Martin got the call for 21 of Dickey's starts while Thole got the remaining 13 during 2015. All things considered, Martin did a good job of learning how to catch Dickey.
But the physical toll of handling everyday duties and having to catch a knuckler took a toll. With Martin's body battered and bruised and his batting average dipping below .250, Thole was recalled from Triple-A to take some of the pressure off in mid-August.
This season, Thole has taken over as the team's No. 2 receiver, and manager John Gibbons said he intends to play Thole every fifth day, coinciding with Dickey's starts.
Monday night, Dickey and Thole got together in Toronto's second game of the Major League Baseball season against the Tampa Bay Rays. The regular-season reunion was a success.
The light-hitting catcher, whose batting average was .204 a year ago, swatted his first home run since Aug. 24, 2013, to help lift the Blue Jays to a 5-3 victory, their second win of the young season.
Considering it was his first major league home run in almost three years, Thole was none too happy when an old codger with a baseball glove sitting in the front row of the right-field bleachers caught the ball as it appeared to be heading over the rail.
The umpires originally ruled the hit a double, citing fan interference, and Thole had to stew for a bit on second base while the play was reviewed.
It was finally overturned and judged a homer – Thole's blast in the top of the third knotted the score at 1-1.
Toronto brought out the big-boy bats in support of Dickey, with Michael Saunders launching a two-run home run in the fourth that was followed by a solo effort by Josh Donaldson in the fifth, building Toronto's lead to 5-1.
Tampa Bay chipped away after that, scoring a single run in the fifth inning and another in the sixth, when the Rays were able to send Dickey packing.
Dickey lasted five-plus innings, allowing three runs off six hits with two walks while striking out three.
Rays' starter Drew Smyly allowed five Toronto runs off six hits over 62/3 innings of work.
Thole said he takes no extra satisfaction in being selected over Martin to catch the knuckler, and is not really bothered when he is referred to as Dickey's personal catcher.
"It's not about me, it's about us," Thole said. "It's about us, so if the skipper thinks one day, 'Hey, I think our best chance of winning a ballgame is to have Russ back there catching R.A.,' then that's our best chance of winning the ballgame. And you do that and there's no bickering, no complaining. That's how this game is."
Thole said there is already enough grousing in a big-league clubhouse to go around.
"In this game you can fall into the trap of, you know, I got screwed or this and that or the other," he said. "Everybody has a story, right and nobody wants to hear yours."
Dickey got the win, but it was by no means a cakewalk as he had to pitch out of trouble in the first, second and fifth innings to earn the victory.
He surrendered a solo home run off the bat of Steven Souza Jr. in the second inning, and allowed Kevin Kiermaier to score from third on a wild pitch in the fifth when the Toronto lead was cut to three.
Toronto centre-fielder Kevin Pillar, picking up where he left off last season, made a spectacular diving catch to rob Steve Pearce of extra bases leading off the seventh, ramming his forehead into the wall in the process.
Roberto Osuna came on to work a perfect ninth inning for the save.