R.A. Dickey Wins 14th, Mets Top Diamondbacks
R.A. Dickey is the first National League pitcher to 14 wins, going seven solid innings as the Mets gain a split of the four-game series with the Diamondbacks.
The Mets seem to do better when they jump out to an early lead, so the Mets decided to jump out to an early lead. Daniel Murphy singled with one out in the first. David Wright doubled off the wall in right to score Murphy. Scott Hairston followed with a double of his own to plate Wright and give the Mets a 2-0 lead.
Dickey’s knuckleball was unpredictable in the first couple of innings. In the second a single, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases, but Dickey was able to pitch his way out of trouble and keep the Diamondbacks off the board.
The Mets made it 3-0 in the fifth when Wright walked, stole second and scored on a Hairston single.
Torres walked to lead off the sixth, advanced to second on a ground out and then onto third on an infield single by Ruben Tejada. Murphy doubled to score Torres to make it 4-0.
The Diamondbacks finally broke through against Dickey in the sixth, but it wasn’t really Dickey’s fault. With one out Aaron Hill hit a ball to deep short. Tejada let fly a wild throw that landed in the dugout, also landing Hill on second. It was ruled a hit and a throwing error. With two outs he moved to third on a passed ball — a strike that Josh Thole simply missed. Paul Goldschmidt then singled home Hill to make it 4-1. Goldschmidt advanced to second on another passed ball and Miguel Montero walked to put runners on first and second. Dickey struck out Chris Young to limit the damage to one run.
Dickey ending up going seven innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits, striking out eight and walking three. He’s now 14-2 with a 2.83 ERA.
Knowing the game was going to the bullpen, the Mets wanted to score as many runs as possible. Andres Torres led off the eighth with a single, and he came all the way around to score on a double by Thole to make it 5-1.
That was the final score, as the Mets get just their third win since the All-Star break against 13 loses.