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MINNEAPOLIS - A second-straight Thursday start unfolded in close to the same fashion for struggling knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Four scoreless innings, a 0-0 tie, only to have things come undone in the fifth. Last week in a loss to Houston, it was a Robbie Grossman fifth inning home run that broke the goose egg. Thursday afternoon, ultimately a 7-0 loss to Minnesota, it was a one-out single by Brian Dozier which led to six-straight Twins reaching base (five hits, one walk), five of whom scored to prematurely end Dickeys day. He teetered throughout, pitching out of jams in the first and fourth, before the dam burst. "I would get count and then really try to finish guys and they would do a good job of laying off really good pitches," said Dickey. "I thought I got squeezed there a couple of pitches but outside of that it was one of those days where youre just not putting the whole game together." Most troubling is the walk total. Dickey issued five more free passes, bringing his season total to 15 in 23 innings, second-most in all of baseball behind Philadelphias A.J. Burnett. "Its certainly moving better at this point, believe it or not, than it was last year," said Dickey. "I feel like over the course of the season, like Ive got 190 innings left, so I truly believe all the peripheral numbers are going to even out." "I mean its pretty amazing you keep that thing in the zone, period," said manager John Gibbons. "He battles that. Thats a lot for him and hell cut down on those, Ive got no doubt about that but you think about it, to be able to throw that thing in the strike zone is pretty tough as it is. But theres no question thats been hurting him." Dickey admitted to being miffed with home plate umpire Chris Gucciones strike zone. At times he was the beneficiary, most notably on a full count, called third strike on Minnesotas Chris Colabello in the first, which stranded a runner at third base. He thought he had Jason Kubel struck out twice in the fifth, got neither call, and Kubel singled home Minnesotas second run. "Im letting some external something impact the inning," said Dickey. "Whether its a ball that I thought should have been a strike or a ball that gets through a hole but were fortunate the other guys are going well. This wont remain this way. Its just tough to weather." Gibbons tried to let Dickey work out of the fifth but after the Kubel single, Josmil Pinto cracked a double off the wall in left-centre that scored two. "Dickeys our guy, its early," said Gibbons. "Hes here to get out of those innings and win games." "I really respect that," said Dickey. "Im appreciative of the opportunity to let me get through the fifth there. I take great pride in trying to go at least six innings in every start and so far this year in two of my four I havent been able to do that and hes given me every opportunity. As the season progresses those decisions, Ill make those pay off for him." Dickey threw a higher number of fastballs than usual. According to BrooksBaseball.net, 25 of his 112 pitches were fastballs, which he didnt attribute the cool conditions - the temperature was zero Celsius at first pitch. "It wasnt ideal but it wasnt something where I was coming in trying to soak my fingers in warm water to try to keep them warm," said Dickey. "I just didnt execute when I needed to make a big pitch and they put good swings on it." "I think it was just trying to balance the velocity of the knuckleball with the fastball so youre trying to throw a few more mid-count fastballs just to try to get them off of (the knuckleball,)" said catcher Josh Thole. Dickeys ERA ballooned from 5.30 to 6.26 in the loss. He dropped to 1-3 on the season, a decision in each start, each decision accurately reflecting the quality of his outing. The Jays starting staff, combined, has a 4.06 ERA through 15 games. Subtract Dickeys 16 earned runs allowed and his 23 innings pitched, the ERA drops to 3.20. "Im traditionally a slow starter and hopefully I can get back on track next time," said Dickey. Cheap KD Shoes Online .com) - The New York Rangers hope to punch their ticket to the second round when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a Game 6 battle at Wells Fargo Center. Wholesale KD Shoes .com) - Jahlil Okafor had 21 points, Tyus Jones scored 16 with 10 assists and No. http://www.wholesalekdshoes.com/. Sources tell TSN that union executives travelled to select CFL cities Monday to open dialogue with players and answer questions. After the tentative deal was reached Saturday night, several players posted messages of frustration and disappointment on social media - and that carried over into Sunday on both the web and the field. Wholesalle KD Shoes China . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. 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Discount KD Shoes .com) - Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 51 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the struggling Bucks 114-101 on Tuesday.FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Tom Brady didnt have to throw much or especially well for the New England Patriots to get their sixth straight win.He figures to play a bigger role when they go for their seventh.One week after they relied on the running game — 37 carries for 201 yards and four touchdowns by Jonas Gray — in a 42-20 win over Indianapolis, the Patriots face the NFLs top-ranked run defence on Sunday when they meet the Detroit Lions.And Brady is determined to play better than he did in the first half against the Colts when he threw two interceptions with no touchdowns and completed just 10 of 19 passes for 84 yards.When youre there at halftime and I didnt play as well as Im capable, then Ive got to do a better job, Brady said Wednesday. It always starts with me, and thats where my focus is. Hopefully, I put together four quarters of good stuff this weekend, not just two.He rebounded in the second half, leading touchdown drives on the Patriots first four possessions — two scoring passes and two short runs by Gray.New England (8-2) ran more than it passed for just the third time this season — 45 running plays and 30 passes.Whether were balanced or not, well do whatevers going to get us a win, tight end Michael Hoomanawanui said.With the Lions (7-3) allowing a league-low 68.8 yards rushing per game, the Patriots best route to success should be through the air. That means their vastly improved offensive line might not do as much of what it prefers, block on running plays.Its just the mentality of linemen, left guard Dan Connolly said. We like the physical nature of football and you get that more in the run game.The Lions also have an outstanding pass defence, the fifth stingiest in the NFL, and have given up the fewest overall yards and points in the league.These guys do a great job on first down, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. They create more neggative runs than any other team in the league.dddddddddddd They get teams in a lot of second- and third-and-long situations. Those are usually not only very difficult, but thats also where they get some turnovers, too, strip-sacks and tipped balls and interceptions.The Patriots, though, have been getting offensive contributions from more players as the wins have piled up.Brady looked to Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski for most of his passes early in the season. Since then, Brandon LaFell and Tim Wright have been targeted more often, and Gronkowskis contribution has grown after a slow start coming off knee surgery.The more of those guys that can be involved, the better were going to be as an offence, Brady said. Who knows who its going to be on a particular week? You really have to see how the game plays out, and if things are working like they were last weekend, then youve got to stay with it.On the first possession at Indianapolis, Gray ran four times for 30 yards and a touchdown. On the second, he ran just once for 20 yards before Brady threw an interception on the next play.New England has routed the other three AFC division leaders, 43-17 over Cincinnati and 43-21 over Denver before the 22-point win over Indianapolis.Next up is the co-leader of the NFC North.Last week doesnt mean anything, so I dont really care about that, Belichick said. That has no impact on the game. What we have to do is figure out how to play against Detroit and its hard. Theyre good at everything.Defensively, at least.On offence, the Lions are 21st in yards gained and tied for 30th in rushing. Only six teams have fewer points.But the way their defence has dominated, they dont have to score a lot.Theyve got a lot of guys up front that make big plays, Connolly said. Theyre definitely disruptive.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '