R.A. Dickey 9-1, Mets Beat Nationals

R.A. Dickey has become the first pitcher in the majors with nine wins as the Mets salvaged the final game of their series with the Nationals.

The game was scoreless into the fifth when with a man on, Lucas Duda drove a Chien-Ming Wang pitch into the seats in right-center for the 2-0 lead. Duda is hot — he’s hit five home runs in the past eight games. He now has 10 homers on the season to go along with 35 RBIs — both numbers lead the team.

David Wright led off the seventh with a walk and promptly stole second. The Mets, who have the fewest stolen bases in the National League, stole three bases on the day. Wright advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a Daniel Murphy single to make it 3-0.

Dickey was virtually unhittable. He allowed no runs and just four hits, struck out eight and walked only two batters. Terry Collins lifted him with one out and one on in the eighth. Bobby Parnell came on to close out the inning and kept Dickey’s runner from scoring, which means Dickey has now thrown 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings.

Dickey is now 9-1. His 2.44 ERA is eighth in the league and more surprisingly, he has struck out 78 batters, which is good for sixth in the NL.

Frank Francisco picked up his 15th save despite allowing a solo shot to Ryan Zimmerman which broke up the shutout.

Mets win 3-1 and are now a game a half out of first. Now bring on the Yankees!