R.A. Dickey, yes really
R.A. Dickey took the mound looking for his seventh win of the season and earned it over the struggling San Diego Padres on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field. Dickey struck out double-digits for the second straight start after his career-high 11 strikeout performance against Pittsburgh last week.
Dickey started off strong striking out the first two batters of the opening inning, then allowed a single to Yonser Alonso who was gunned down at second base by Lucas Duda after looking to stretch it into a double.
After Pades starter Edinson Volquez got the first two Mets out, he allowed a walk to David Wright who stole second and then took third on a passed ball while Duda walked. Up next was Daniel Murphy who singled to put New York on top by a 1-0 score.
Dickey and Volquez pitched around baserunners in the second and third innings before both pitchers retired the side 1-2-3 in the fourth innings.
In the top of the fifth Dickey had his second straight 1-2-3 inning to bring up the Mets in the bottom half of the inning. Leftfielder Mike Baxter led off the frame with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball, Volquez got the next three in order as the Mets led by a 2-0 score.
Dickey worked through the top of the seventh inning after allowing a one out double to Jesus Guzman who was then caught stealing by Mike Nickeas. The knuckleballer struck out his ninth batter of the game to retire the side. In the bottom of the seventh relief pitched Brad Brach finished his 1 2/3 innings of work by retiring Dickey, Baxter and Kirk Nieuwenhuis with ease.
Terry Collins came out to get Dickey from the game with a pair of runners on and one out in the top of the eighth inning in favor of Tim Byrdak who got a flyout and strikeout to get keep the pitching staff’s scoreless inning streak at 25 straight innings without allowing a run.
In the bottom of the eighth Andrew Cashner came on to pitch for the Padres and was throwing gas reaching triple-figures on several pitches as he retired the Mets 1-2-3 to send the game to the ninth inning with the Mets looking to hold onto their 2-0 lead with Frank Francisco coming on to pitch.
Francisco got the first batter, then the second batter in Alonso on the first pitch to bring up Guzman. Nieuwenhuis squeezed the ball in right field to end the ball game and clinch the series for the Mets. Dickey earned his seventh victory of the season to give him the National League lead.
Game Ball: R.A. Dickey continued to have a great start to the season through the first two month as he collected his seventh win while pitching into the eighth inning and striking out 10 against the Padres again. The next test for Dickey will come in next weekends’ series against Carlos Beltran and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Mets will have their third consecutive day game tomorrow afternoon when they take on National League East rival Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The Mets will send Jon Niese to the mound as he squares off against fellow left-hander Cole Hamels on Memorial Day.
