Blue Jays' Dickey: 'We're still well within a shot at winning our division'

Though lousy play in recent weeks effectively ousted the Toronto Blue Jays from atop the American League East, resident knuckleballer R.A. Dickey remains confident his team can claim an division title this year, according to John Lott of the National Post.

"Look, a lot of this is a matter of perspective," said Dickey." If we're 10 games back and we've worked out way to being two or three games over [.500], you're feeling a lot better than if you're 12 games up and you've seen it dwindle down to two games up. We're still well within a shot at winning our division."

The Blue Jays stumbled into this week's All-Star break with just two wins in their last 10 games, and squandered six solid innings from Dickey on Sunday as Toronto's offense was silenced by David Price in a 3-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Injuries have played a central role in Toronto's recent slide, as Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, and Brett Lawrie all remain incapacitated by various ailments. Dickey, of course, believes restored health - not a trade-deadline acquisition - is crucial to the second-half success of the Blue Jays.

"I just think we need to get healthy," added Dickey. "I feel like we had our team there for a while. We were really going well there in May and early June. I feel like that's kind of what we're capable of doing with the guys in this clubhouse. Every team that's going for a championship would love to have another player, sure. But I don't think it's essential for us to win, no.