R.A. Dickey Reels In Marlins With Complete Game 6-1 Gem

Backed by another terrific start by R.A. Dickey and unusual offensive outburst by Andres Torres, the Meta were able to salvage the series finale with the Marlins and end the 9-game home losing streak by a finale score of 6-1.

RA Dickey was on the hill once again playing stopper and going toe-to-toe with Marlins ace Josh Johnson. He had himself yet another masterpiece. Dickey gave the bullpen a much needed rest, needing 118 pitches to shut down the Fish. Using superb command of his knuckleball yet again, allowing just a solo shot to Justin Ruggiano in the fourth, Dickey cruised through nine frames to earn his well deserved 15th victory of the season. His final line was nine innings pitched, allowing one run on five hits while walking just one and punching out ten.

The offense broke out of their slump, backing Dickey’s outing. Thole got the ball rolling with a RBI knock to draw first, then it became the Andres Torres show. Torres went 3-3 with a double, triple, walk and a homer falling just a base hit short of the cycle, driving in a trio of runs to put the Mets on top for good. Wright and Thole then broke the game open with RBI steaks of their own to make it 6-1 and hand them their 54th victory on the year, now four games under .500.

Game Ball:

R.A. Dickey, for being a source of consistency in an otherwise roller-coaster season for the Mets.

Notes:

Dickey now is 15-3 with a 2.72 ERA and 166 punchouts. Cy young anyone?

In addition to Torres’ three hit game. Tejada, Thole, Wright and Baxter had multi-hit games. Wright had his 33rd double on the season.

Up Next:

The Mets will open a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves tomorrow at 7:10 pm when Matt Harvey (1-2, 3.86 ERA) makes his Citi Field debut against LHP Paul Maholm (9-7, 3.75 ERA).

Thoughts from Joe D.

I’m not gonna tell you the team showed some spark and came to life, it’s a win. It was widely expected that the Mets wouldn’t lose every game from this point on. I cant ignore the fact they are 1-9 in their last ten games at Citi or that this is their first home win since before the all star break.

That said, there were some positives to take away and the biggest one was Ruben Tejada who had another two hits to raise his average to .323 and extend his hitting streak to 14 games.

Another positive to take away is the brilliant performance by R.A. Dickey Dickey who is on track to become the Mets’ first 20-game winner since Frank Viola in 1990. You can’t say enough about what Dickey means to this team now and in the future, assuming he’ll have a future with the Mets beyond next season.

Andres Torres had a nice game, but he took far too long to show up this season and at this point I don’t see him coming back in 2013. At least that’s the hope. We need players who can carry the team when it matters, not bust it out when the pressure is off and the season is winding down.

Mike Baxter had two hits and is proving to be a nice utility outfielder, and it was good to see David Wright stroke a pair of hits and even out his swing a little.

I’m not going to go crazy about the 13 hits… I’d rather see them bang out nine to ten hits and on a more consistent basis than these once a month outbursts. The offense is too erratic and mostly because they are laid back and not aggressive enough when they need to be. The other thing is that most of them are simply not cut out to be everyday players. You know who they are.

Anyway, I’m just glad we finally won one at home. I hope there will be more wins before they hit the road again.