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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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Michael Crabtree Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are disappointed, though not discouraged.MINNEAPOLIS -- After another strong start by Dallas Keuchel and an impressive home run from George Springer, it was Dexter Fowler who saved the game for the Houston Astros with a diving catch. Keuchel didnt allow a run over six innings, Springer hit his 11th home run and the Astros held on to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-4 on Friday night. The Twins could have tied the game in the eighth inning if not for Fowlers spectacular, diving grab that robbed Trevor Plouffe of a leadoff extra-base hit. "That play by Dexter Fowler may have been the play of the game," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Thats a leadoff double, if not a triple, if he ends up diving and not getting the ball." Marwin Gonzalez and Matt Dominguez also homered off Phil Hughes (6-2), who lost for the first time in nine starts. The Astros have won six straight road games and 10 of their last 13 overall. Danny Santana hit his first career home run, a two-run shot in the seventh inning off reliever Tony Sipp as the Twins tried to rally late. After the start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 21 minutes by a storm that never arrived, Keuchel (7-3) struck out six and won for the fifth time in his last six starts. Springer drove a pitch from Hughes that was down and away and off the plate an estimated 402 feet to the opposite field in the sixth to give Houston a 5-0 lead. "That there is what you call power to all fields," Porter said with a big smile on his face. It was Springers first homer in June after he hit 10 in May and was selected the American League rookie of the month. Since May 11, Houston is 16-9 and on track to avoid 100-plus losses for the first time since 2010. Gonzalez pulled back on a drag bunt attempt in the third, then lined the next pitch over the wall in right field to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. Dominguez drove a high fastball from Hughes to straightaway centre in the fourth, hitting it just far enough to get it over the glove of a leaping Aaron Hicks. It was the first time Hughes allowed multiple homers since his first start of the season on April 3. Coming into the game, Hughes had allowed only four home runs all season and just one in his last 48 innings.dddddddddddd "Just the mistakes over the plate really," Hughes said. "I didnt have my best fastball tonight and just wasnt making adjustments the way I had before." Chad Qualls pitched around a two-out throwing error by Dominguez in the ninth to earn his seventh save in eight chances. Eduardo Escobar had three hits including an RBI double that made it 5-4 with two outs in the eighth. Escobars double would have tied the game if Fowler didnt sprint over to the left-centre gap and rob Plouffe, sliding a long way on the grass after securing the catch. "When it was hit, I was like, I got to go a long way for that," Fowler said. "So I just put my head down and ran and I picked it up. The only way I could catch it was if I dive for it." Oswaldo Arcia, who homered in his previous two games but didnt start because of a sprained ankle, pinch-hit and flied out on the first pitch from lefty Darin Downs. But it was the Astros defence, including a diving play for the first out in the ninth by second baseman Jose Altuve that saved this one. "They made play after play," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We hit some balls pretty good and they kept making diving plays all over the place, which actually saved the ballgame for them because we put some decent swings out there and had plenty of chances." About 10 minutes before the first pitch, the Target Field grounds crew rolled out the infield tarp in anticipation of a storm that was approaching the area. It never rained during the delay, but light rain did fall in the early innings. NOTES: Leroy "Bud" Miller, a World War II veteran who was part of the landing force at Normandy Beach 70 years ago, raised the American flag before the game. ... Injured Astros SS Jonathan Villar missed his third straight game after getting hit in the right elbow Tuesday. ... Plouffe hit his 22nd double in the fourth inning, tying a career high. ... Minnesota has drafted eight college pitchers in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft. 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