BOSTON, Massachusetts - There are times over the course of a season when a team needs its ace starter to be a stopper. For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey. "I feel like thats why one of the reasons Alex pursued me and wanted to make the trade because he felt like I could be a guy that could help stop streaks when they werent going in our favour. Its not necessarily extra pressure but you do feel a real responsibility to be your best." Consider the situation: Following a franchise record-tying 11-game win streak the Blue Jays traveled to Tropicana Field, where the worst always seems to happen, and promptly lost the first two games of a three-game set against the division rival Rays. In stepped Dickey for an unusually early 12:10 afternoon start. 93 pitches and only two ground ball singles later, the Jays had won 3-0 and avoided the possibility of a lengthy losing skid. "Thats his job," said veteran Mark DeRosa. "Thats his job. Hes a number one, you know. We fully expected him to go out, maybe not throw a two-hit potential no-hitter the way he was rolling, but I have all the confidence in R.A. He knows, he knows, anybody who reads his post-game comments, this guy is thinking 10 days in advance. He knows what it takes and hes been there before and won a Cy Young." The Jays have won 12 of 15 despite Thursday nights 7-4 loss to the Red Sox. While the club, for the most part, has received excellent starting pitching during the stretch, a clearly defined staff ace has yet to emerge. Dickey is hesitant to discuss Wednesdays outing as a turning point in his season but his personal catcher, Josh Thole, who caught the knuckleballers Cy Young 2012 season with the Mets, suggested it could be. Thole struggled to catch the knuckleball in Wednesdays pregame bullpen session. It was even more difficult in-game. These are good signs. "I mean thats what I remember," said Thole. "What we saw (Wednesday,) is what I remember. Every fifth day it was a challenge to go out there, warm him up, take him into a game. Thats what I remember." "I dont usually say this but you could tell in the bullpen," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "I kind of kept it to myself but I think Pat (Hentgen) knew as well. We were watching him warm up and you could see the action on the ball." As a knuckleballer, Dickey often is left to his own devices. He can confide in Thole and bounce ideas off Walker but because theyve never thrown the pitch, there is a limit to which they can offer advice. As he does with all of his pitchers, Walker studies video of Dickeys work. He keeps a checklist with him, provided by Dickey, which details Dickeys mechanics. If Walker notices anything off kilter, even in the slightest, he provides Dickey with feedback. "There are some things he does like a traditional pitcher," said Walker. "Anytime he gets out of whack his front side will open up a little too soon, hell get underneath the ball a little too much and that ball will tend to stay up in the zone and take off on him. Like a traditional pitcher, when he stays closed long enough and gets his arm through the zone where it should be, you know out in front consistently, he gets the action that hes looking for." Dickey often travels into the clubhouse in-between innings to watch video. "So I can make an in-game adjustment," said Dickey. "But sometimes the differences are microscopic. Its the difference in an inch or two landing or an inch or two in my wrist position. I mean, thats what youre up against when you tackle becoming a knuckleball pitcher because you have to go through some things you dont have to go through as a conventional pitcher. Thats just part of the territory." Dickey spent most of the first two months pitching in pain. He had what can best be described as a strain on the right side of his upper back, pain he first felt in Kansas City in his third start of season. Being a knuckleballer coming off a Cy Young award was both a blessing and a curse. Throwing a knuckleball isnt as strenuous on the body so Dickey was able to pitch through the injury. Having been a conventional pitcher early in his career, Dickey says the pain would have sent the old him to the disabled list. On the flip side, hes struggled to live up to lofty expectations. With an overall record of 7-8, an ERA of 4.72 and 41 walks – an unusually high number based on his standard – Dickey has heard the jeers from frustrated Blue Jays fans and accepts them as a reality of the business hes chosen. He, too, has been frustrated. Now, hes focused on building off Wednesdays start and continuing the correction of the bad mechanical habits he developed because of the pain in his neck. "Sometimes its tough, especially when youre thinking about trying to throw without pain," said Dickey. "When youre trying just to throw a ball and not have pain in your back, you know, youre distracted maybe from being able to be in the moment with your mechanic." Now healthy, Dickey expects to be better in the seasons second half. Recent starts in San Francisco and, of course, Wednesday in Tampa Bay suggest hes on the right track. His next test wont be easy. Dickey is scheduled to start Mondays Canada Day matinee, at home, versus the offensively potent Detroit Tigers. 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If you do it good enough people start asking those kind of questions.Lonnie Chisenhall was 4 for 5 with three RBI while Carlos Santana and Tyler Naquin homered. Carlos Carrasco (5-2) allowed one run in six innings for Cleveland, which has won 13 straight at home.Francisco Lindor, named as a reserve to the AL All-Star team, had an RBI double and turned in two outstanding defensive plays for Cleveland.Weve been focused against everybody, weve just had a little more success against them, he said.Detroit manager Brad Ausmus believes theres a simple reason for his teams problems against Cleveland.Theres nothing baffling, he said. Its not like we havent played good baseball. Theyve just played better.Anibal Sanchez (5-9), who replaced the injured Jordan Zimmermann, allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings.Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was ejected in the sixth after grounding out. Cabrera, thinking the ball hit off his leg, never left the batters box and was called out at first. He was ejected when the umpires didnt reverse the call.Chisenhall had an RBI double in the fourth and run-scoring singles in the fifth and eighth. Naquin hit a leadoff homer in the sixth while Santana homered to begin the eighth, his team-leading 19th.Lindors first gem came with runners on first and second in the fifth. Second baseman Jason KKipnis fielded Jose Iglesias one-out grounder and threw to second for the force.dddddddddddd Lindor whirled and threw to third where Jose Ramirez tagged Steven Moya.As soon as the ball was hit I felt Moya starting to run, Lindor said. I didnt see him but as soon as I felt that I wasnt going to throw to first base.Lindor robbed Justin Upton of a hit in the sixth with a diving stop deep in the hole and a strong throw to first.Carrasco held Detroit to three hits and didnt allow a run until the sixth inning. The right-hander threw a four-hit shutout at Detroit on June 25 and struck out a season-high 14 against Toronto on Thursday.Sanchez was named the starter when Zimmermann was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a strained neck.Cabrera was also named as a reserve to the All-Star Game. He was hitless in three at-bats before being ejected.Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos, who homered Monday, was scratched because of flu-like symptoms.TAKING HIS CUTSIndians OF Michael Brantley took batting practice Tuesday for the first time since being sidelined again May 14. He had surgery for a torn right labrum in November and began the season on the DL. He returned to the DL after playing in 11 games.Im 100 percent healthy right now, he said. I bounce back great every day and am almost unrestricted in baseball activity.TRAINERS ROOMTigers: Zimmermann will visit a specialist about his neck injury. ... LHP Daniel Norris (strained right oblique) was placed on the 15-day DL on Tuesday.UP NEXTTigers: Rookie RHP Michael Fulmer (8-2, 2.17 ERA) has allowed one run or less in each of his last eight starts in which hes 6-1 with a 0.53 ERA.Indians: RHP Josh Tomlin (9-1, 3.21 ERA) has won all three starts against the Tigers this season. ' ' '