Recap:

R.A. Dickey took the hill looking for his sixth win of the year, going toe-to-toe with Reds ace Matt Latos. Dickey started off dominant, striking out six in the first four frames, but ran into trouble in the fifth after giving up a solo shot to Joey Votto in the previous inning. Come top five, Dickey gave up three runs on a hit-by-pitch, a walk, a double and a passed ball. Looking at a 4-0 deficit and one of the strongest bullpens in the National League, this one was beginning to look lost early.

That is until the Amazin’s bats decided to wake up, starting with an Andres Torres single, followed by a Lucas Duda 2-run double to cut the Reds lead in half. The Mets tacked in a run in the sixth and seventh to tie the ballgame up at four. It wasn’t until the eighth however where the tide of the ballgame completely shifted, putting the Mets in the driver’s seat.

It started with something as innocent as an absolutely perfect bunt by Rob Johnson, and ended with a 5-run eighth. David Wright came up with Johnson on first and hit his second double of the afternoon to the deepest part of the ballpark, giving the Mets a one-run lead. After, an intentional pass to Daniel Murphy, Justin Turner followed through with a bloop single which scored Wright and the insurance run. Ronny Cedeno however, put the ballgame away with a three-run bomb to left center that didn’t even need the new fences, putting the Mets on top for good 9-4.

The bullpen has cost the Mets quite a bit as of late, but today they held the fort down while the lineup battled back. Jon Rauch and Bobby Parnell had two fantastic outings, delivering two scoreless frames while punching out three. Frank Francisco came on after them and gave up a walk and a double, but still handed the Amazin’s a scoreless ninth, getting them out of town with a win.

Notes:

-Mike Nickeas had a tough game catching R.A. Dickey today. When I spoke to him a few weeks ago, he said this on catching the knuckleball “Somedays it’s alright, somedays it’s like trying to catch a fish underwater.” Nickeas also had a passed ball, took two foul balls bounced off of him, and took his own foul bunt in the face. Ouch!

-Wright went 2-2 on the day with two doubles, three walks, a stolen base, two runs and an RBI. He has now raised his average to .411 and his OBP over .500 on the year. One his most impressive at-bats on the day however was his eight-pitch walk from Aroldis Chapman that set the table to score in the seventh to tie the game.

-Justin Turner pinch hit for Ike Davis and had a sac fly to tie the game and a RBI single to give the Mets an insurance run.

-Daniel Murphy went 2-4 with a double and an incredible heads up play in which he caught a foul ball and threw out Joey Votto at home. He is locked in on both sides of the diamond.

-Lucas Duda went 2-4 with a double as well and is now 6-for-13 in his last three games.

Hero Of The Game:

David Wright: For his two doubles, three walks and overall ability to spark this offense.

Honorable Mention:

The rest of the team. In all of the attention towards Wright, many forget the little things. Like today, Baxter and Turner had sac flys to tie the game. Rob Johnson had an incredible bunt. Murphy had a great heads-up play. These Mets are doing the little things, and that’s winning ballgames as much as David Wright.

Next Up:

The Mets are going north of the border in hockey attire as they take on the Lawrie-less Blue Jays for a three game set tomorrow starting at 7:07pm