Mets 9th Inning Rally Beats Phillies, Saves R.A. Dickey

It was a marquee matchup of pitchers heading to the All-Star game — R.A. Dickey vs. Cole Hamels. The duel did not emerge as neither pitcher had his best stuff, and it all came down to a ninth inning rally by the Mets.

Dickey allowed his first first inning run of the season courtesy of a walk, a hit batter and a single by Shane Victorino.

The Phillies added another run in the second on a double from Jimmy Rollins.

The Mets got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning when Scott Hairston hit a line drive into the Party City Deck. Hairston now leads the team in homers with 12.

The Mets tied the game at two in the third when Dickey and Daniel Murphy both singled, and David Wright drove home Dickey with a single of his own.

But Dickey gave the lead back in the fourth — Hunter Pence singled in a run.

The Mets took the lead in the fifth when Ruben Tejeda singled and Wright launched a ball over the wall in left to make it 4-3.

However the Phillies took the lead back in the sixth. Hamels singled and Rollins tripled him home to make it 4-4. Juan Pierre then laid down a bunt to score Rollins to make it 5-4.

Dickey lasted seven innings, allowing five runs on eleven hits — the most hits he has ever allowed in a game. He struck out seven and walked one. His ERA soared to 2.40.

But the Mets would not go away. Ike Davis led off the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon with a double — Ronny Cedeno came in to pinch run. Terry Collins then ordered Josh Thole to sacrifice to move Cedeno to third with one out. Bad move, in my opinion. Why give away an out when you are down in the ninth inning while the runner is already in scoring position at second? Kirk Nieuwenhuis struck out and Jordany Valdespin, just back from the minors, was hit by a pitch. Valdespin stole second. Tejada walked to load the bases. Murphy then hit a ball up the middle that hit Papelbon and ricocheted away from him, allowing Murphy to be safe at first and tie the score at five. On the very next pitch Wright looped a ball to shallow right that Hunter Pence just could not get to as the winning run scored.

Wright had four RBIs on the night and now has 59 on the season, tied for second in the National League.

The Mets win 6-5 and take the series from the Phillies. They also help Dickey avoid his first loss since that rainy day in Atlanta on April 18.