After an incredible pitchers’ duel on Monday night between Johan Santana and Josh Johnson, R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle decided to give us an encore on Tuesday.
Dickey was dominant, making just one mistake over seven innings — a fifth inning knuckleball that Omar Infante hit off the facing of the second deck in left. But that was all the Marlins would get off R.A. over seven innings. He allowed just three hits, including the homer, and walked only one while striking out seven.
Buehrle was nearly as good, allowing just two runs on five hits over seven. But his lone mistake was bigger. With two outs and a runner on in the sixth, Buehrle grooved a 0-2 changeup to David Wright, who mashed it over the centerfield fence for a go-ahead two-run homer. With the blast, Wright passed Darryl Strawberry for the top spot on the Mets RBI list with 735.
The Mets tacked on three more in the eighth and the bullpen quartet of Jon Rauch, Bobby Parnell, Tim Byrdak and Manny Acosta pieced together two scoreless innings to secure the 5-1 win. The victory gave New York its third series win of the season, all over National League East foes.
The offense broke out late in the game, but the story of the night was Dickey. R.A. said on Monday that he could match Mark Buehrle’s pace and he wasn’t kidding. He got off to another solid start, needing just 10 pitches to get through the first inning. In the second, Dickey allowed a leadoff single to Logan Morrison, but he pitched around it and mowed through the frame in just 13 pitches.
It was another 10-pitch affair in the third as R.A. breezed through John Buck, Buehrle and Jose Reyes in order. The fourth required a little more effort —18 pitches — but Dickey again set the Marlins down in order. Buehrle was just as strong early, matching Dickey zero-for-zero through four.
Miami struck first in the fifth on Infante’s homer and Dickey also gave up a one-out double to Gaby Sanchez, but he retired Buck and Buehrle to end the threat. After the fifth inning hiccup, Dickey picked it up again in the sixth, striking out Reyes ahead of groundouts by Emilio Bonifacio and Hanley Ramirez.
While Dickey was twirling a game, the Mets offense was scuffling and they failed to get a runner past first against Buehrle through the first five. Wright put an end to that in the sixth.
The inning started when Kirk Nieuwenheis was plunked by the Marlins lefty. The Mets had life, but after Ruben Tejada flew out, Daniel Murphy hit what appeared to be a double play ball to second. However an old friend did the Mets a favor. Despite a good feed from Infante, Reyes was disrupted by Nieuwenhuis’ slide and threw high to first, allowing Murphy to reach. Wright didn’t let the extra out go to waste as he followed by crushing Buehrle’s 0-2 offering for a two-run shot center that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.
The Mets gave some extra outs back to the Marlins in the seventh on a miscommunication at second that cost them a double play and an error by Wright on a Sanchez groundball. But Dickey endured, getting Buck — with two on and two out — to ground into a force, ending the inning. Dickey stranded nine through seven innings of three-hit ball.
In the eighth, Reyes blooped a one-out single to right for his first hit of the series, but Rauch got Bonifacio for the second out and Parnell came in to strike out Hanley Ramirez and end the inning.
The Mets struck for three insurance runs in the bottom half on an RBI single by Lucas Duda and a two-run double by Mike Baxter that made it 5-1. Byrdak and Acosta made it interesting in the ninth, but Acosta got Sanchez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end it.
Turning Point: Buehrle was rolling through the game until Wright blasted his two-run homer in the sixth. It turned the tide, gave the Mets the lead and stood up as the game-winning hit in a 5-1 victory.
Game Ball: If Wright gets the turning point, Dickey has to get the game ball. He made one bad pitch all night and had the Marlins flailing at almost every other one. After a tough fifth, he buckled down for a great sixth and gutted out a seventh inning in which he basically recorded five outs. Tonight was vintage Dickey and it was just what the Mets needed.
Random Stache Fact: The Stache was in the house at Citi Field as our fearless leaders, Matt Falkenbury and Michael Ganci were invited to blogger night at the ball game. Click here for some exclusive content.
Next Game: The Mets finish the three-game set with the Marlins, and this homestand on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field. Jon Niese (2-0, 2.89 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 17 K) will oppose Ricky Nolasco (2-0, 3.93 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 12 K) on the bump. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. and the game can be seen on SNY or heard, as always on WFAN 660 AM.
