Bauer outage plagues Tribe in loss

Associated Press

TORONTO

On a rough night for the Indians, Gavin Floyd’s return gave them something to smile about.

R.A. Dickey pitched a four-hitter to win his seventh straight decision, Josh Donaldson had three hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 5-1 on Wednesday.

With an off day Thursday and extra help in the bullpen now that rosters have expanded, Indians manager Terry Francona yanked struggling starter Trevor Bauer (10-11) after the right-hander gave up five runs and six hits in 11/3 innings.

Six relievers followed, including Floyd, who was pitching for the first time since June 19, 2014, with Atlanta. Floyd needed a second surgery after suffering the same injury in spring training this year.

Working in relief for the first time since May 2011, Floyd retired the heart of Toronto’s lineup — Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion — in the seventh.

“It was really good to see,” Francona said. “On a tough night, it was nice to see him pitch in a major league game.”

Floyd said it was “fun” to get into a game for the first time in more than a year.

“My heart was racing but I was able to control my emotions and zero in on what I needed to do,” he said.

Catcher Yan Gomes came to the mound for a brief chat midway through Floyd’s warmup pitches.

“We had a refresher as far as what pitches I throw,” Floyd said.

Cleveland lost consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 18 and 19 at Boston. They went 9-2 in between.

AL East-leading Toronto won for the fifth time in six games, maintaining a 11/2-game lead over the New York Yankees, who beat Boston 13-8.

Bauer failed to get through two innings for the second time in four starts.

“Even warming up (pitching coach Mickey Callaway) said the fastball was up,” Francona said. “When he got in the game he just couldn’t drive it down and that was certainly the game plan against these guys. He wasn’t able to get it there.”

Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki each had RBI singles in the first and Donaldson chased Bauer with a two-run double in the second.

Jeff Manship came on and walked Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion before Donaldson tagged and scored on Tulowitzki’s fly ball that second baseman Jason Kipnis caught in shallow center. When Kipnis’ throw tailed toward third base, Donaldson dove around the tag attempt from catcher Yan Gomes, touching the plate with his left hand before landing on his chest.

“Kipnis has a pretty good arm but he was moving back,” Donaldson said. “I felt like his momentum was carrying him back which makes it a little bit more difficult of a play for him.”

Dickey (10-10) threw 92 pitches, including 68 strikes, in his second complete game of the season and 15th of his career. Now 7-0 since the All-Star break, he’s unbeaten in 10 starts dating to a July 9 road loss against the White Sox.

“What’s worked is the bats have exploded when I pitch,” Dickey said. “That’s always nice, to pitch with a lead.”

Dickey set down 14 straight before Kipnis hit a one-out single in the ninth. Francisco Lindor ended it by grounding into a double play.