De La Rosa yielded a threerun homer to Bautista in the fifth inning, and the Boston Red Sox went on to a 3-1 loss to R.A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Xander Bogaerts had an RBI single for the defending World Series champion Red Sox, who were eliminated from the A.L. East race with Baltimore’s 7-5 win at Tampa Bay.
De La Rosa (4-6) gave up three runs and seven hits in four-plus innings. The righthander is 0-2 with a 6.20 ERA in his last five starts.
Dickey (12-12) allowed one run and six hits. The knuckleballer was pulled after Mookie Betts’ lead-off double in the eighth.
Dickey improved 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last three starts and 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA against Boston this season.
With his pitch dancing in a light breeze, he had a number of Boston’s hitters taking big swings that led to many misses, weak grounders or popups.
“As far as a mechanical adjustment, it’s nothing that’s outstanding,” Dickey said of his recent run. “You’re always working on your trade.”
Adam Lind added three hits for the Blue Jays, who dropped the first two games of the series after five consecutive wins. The Blue Jays were six games behind Seattle for the AL’s second wild card coming into the day.
Brett Cecil worked a hitless eighth and Casey Janssen tossed a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.
Boston’s hitters had little luck with Dickey early on, collecting just three singles in the first five innings. Jackie Bradley Jr. had the hardest hit ball, a deep drive to the wall in center that was caught with two runners on in the second.
Up next
Red Sox: RHP Joe Kelly (1- 1, 3.89 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of a threegame set in Fenway against AL East-leading Baltimore. Miguel Gonzalez (8-7, 3.38 ERA) gets the ball for the Orioles.
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