R.A. Dickey Goes to 18-4, Mets Beat Cardinals

R.A. Dickey’s quest to win 20 games took a big step forward on Wednesday afternoon, as the Mets salvaged the final game of their series with the Cardinals.

The Mets jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Justin Turner doubled with two outs and Josh Thole drove him in with a single.

In the third the Mets loaded the bases on singles by Mike Baxter and Daniel Murphy and an Ike Davis walk. Lucas Duda also walked to force in a run to make it 2-0.

Opposing pitcher Adam Wainwright got the Cardinals on the board in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to left to make it 2-1.

The Mets broke it open in the fifth inning. Baxter and Murphy both singled again, and Davis deposited a Wainwright pitch into the seats in right. Davis’s 26th home run of the season extended the lead to 5-1.

Two Cardinals singles put runners on first and third with no outs in the seventh. Dickey then induced a double play that scored a run to make it 5-2. Dickey allowed a single and Terry Collins decided to pull him from the game. Josh Edgin came on and got a strikeout to end the inning.

Dickey didn’t have his best stuff but he was able to go 6.2 innings, allowing the two runs on eighth hits. He struck out five and walked one. He’s now 18-4 — the only pitcher in all of baseball with 18 wins.

The Mets got that run back in the eighth — a leadoff double by Turner and infield singles by Thole and Andres Torres scored Turner to make it 6-2.

And that was the final score. The Mets went 6-3 on this road trip, and that’s not bad at all.