The last thing we expected to say before the season started is that a Mets pitcher would be the first pitcher in baseball to pick up nine victories on the year.
Better still, it is veteran knuckle ball pitcher R.A. Dickey that claims that title. He tossed seven and a third shutout innings today against the Washington Nationals, en route to a 3-1 win over their division rival.
Chien-Ming Wang hit the mound for Washington, and the Mets hit him with relative ease, tagging him for eight hits and a pair of runs in five innings. Lucas Duda blasted his tenth home run of the year. At least the Mets have one guy on pace for about 28-32 long balls this season.
Duda’s tenth home run meets his tally from last year, setting him on a much greater pace. It took Duda 100 games last year to reach ten, and he has four in his last ten games.
The Mets would’ve shut out Washington if Ryan Zimmerman didn’t go yard off Frank Francisco in the ninth. Nonetheless, Francisco grabs save number 15.
No doubt, the biggest story of the afternoon is R.A. Dickey, improving to 9-1 and extending his scoreless innings streak to 24 and two thirds. He struck out eight Nationals today and his ERA has dropped to 2.44.
Not only are we getting to the ridiculous point of looking at Dickey as a definite All-Star; but we’re getting to the even more ridiculous point of which Dickey could be a considered a viable All-Star Game STARTER for the National League.
If he keeps turning in stellar outings one after another, I’m sure he’ll have no problem cracking the rotation and maybe even earning himself a starting nod in the Midsummer’s Classic.
Fresh off a highly motivational win, the Mets will now be taking the talents crosstown for the first half o the annual Subway Series.
