Pre-Game: Final Home Game Of The Season; R.A. Dickey Goes For Win #20. Pittsburgh Pirates (76-79) @ New York Mets (71-84)

This is it Mets fans.  We are finally here.  The last home game of the season.  Citi Field has been a house of horrors for the Mets this season (and essentially since it has opened), but if R.A. Dickey can get the win today, we would actually have had three milestone moments at Citi this year. Johan’s no-hitter, David breaking the Mets career hits record, and R.A. winning 20 games.  If there’s anything we can take from this season, it might as well be those few positives.

In case you haven’t heard, last night David Wright went 2 for 4 and passed Ed Kranepool as the Mets all time hits leader with an infield hit in the 3rd inning.  David now has 1,420 hits at the ripe age of 29.  If my some miracle the Mets are able to lock of David to a long term deal this offseason, there’s an outside chance we may see the franchise’s first 3,000 club member.

Yes the Mets did win last night.  Jeremy Hefner had a fantastic bounce back performance and pitched seven innings of shoutout ball.  In his last outing against the Phillies, he couldn’t record an out and was charged with seven runs.  Ruben Tejada continued his push back to the .300 mark by going 4 for 5, raising his average to .296.

Did I mention that  R.A. Dickey (19-6 2.66 ERA) is going for his 20th win of the season this afternoon against Kevin Corriea (11-10 4.11 ERA) ?

The game can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN 660 AM.

Starting Lineups

Mets Thursday lineup vs. Pittsburgh: Tejada-SS, Murphy-2B, Wright-3B, Davis-1B, Hairston-LF, Baxter-RF, Thole-C, Torres-CF, Dickey-RHP

— New York Mets (@Mets) September 27, 2012

Pirates:
1. Starling Marte LF
2. Josh Harrison 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Garrett Jones 1B
5. Pedro Alvarez 3B
6. Travis Snider RF
7. Rod Barajas C
8. Jordy Mercer SS
9. Correia SP

Who’s HOT for the Mets?…Ruben Tejada is 10 for his last 24, raising his average up to .296.
David Wight is 11 for 14 (.786) with three doubles and two homers off Kevin Correia.

Who’s HOT for the Pirates?… Josh Harrison is 7 for his last 18.

Pitching Matchup

Robert Allen Dickey (19-6 2.66 ERA) makes a bid for his 20th win of the season today. He would become the first Met since Frank Viola back in 1990 to win 20 games in a season. Dickey has the NL’s lowest ERA, and is second to Gio Gonzalez in wins, while his 209 strikeouts are two behind Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw for the league lead. He could become the first Mets pitcher since Dwight Gooden in 1985, to win pitching’s “Triple Crown”.

Kevin Correia (11-10 4.11 ERA)  gave up four runs and seven hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings of a 4-1 loss to Houston. Correia is 2-3 with a 3.49 ERA in six career starts against the Mets.