R.A. ENCORE A WINNER
Follows Johan gem with shutout
R.A. DICKEY was faced with the impossible task of trying to top Johan Santana’s no-hitter from Friday night, the first in franchise history. Dickey couldn’t quite match Santana’s brilliance, but he dazzled the crowd of 27,914 at Citi Field with his third career shutout, pitching the Mets to a 5-0 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday.
The Mets (30-23) hadn’t had back-to-back complete-game shutouts since Aug. 12-13 of 2010. And it was none other than Santana and Dickey who accomplished the feat by shutting out Colorado and Philadelphia, respectively.
Dickey joked after the no-hitter that he wasn’t going to pitch Saturday and that the Mets would send rookie Jeremy Hefner to the mound, which Terry Collins said was actually possible if it would have rained hard. Kidding aside, the knuckleballer was motivated by his teammate’s mastery and used it to improve to 8-1 on the season.
“It’s nice to follow Johan because he has set the tone,” Dickey said. “It’s fun to compete with him kind of internally on who can have a better outing.”
Dickey gave up seven hits and didn’t walk a batter while striking out nine. He was much more efficient than Santana was the night before, throwing 100 pitches, 73 for strikes. Dickey avoided trouble for the most part, pitching five one-twothree innings — he struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning, when catcher Josh Thole said Dickey’s knuckleball was at its best. He induced inning-ending double plays to put out small fires in the second and third, and got one with two men on and no outs in the ninth. Dickey extended his scoreless streak to 17 1/ innings, dating back
3 to his May 22 start at Pittsburgh. During the team’s current home stand, Santana and Dickey have combined for 341/ score
3 less inning while making two starts apiece. They have emerged as one of the top one-two punches in baseball. “That’s how you’re gonna be successful. It starts with pitching and it’ll always be pitching,” Collins said. “And when those two guys (Santana and Dickey) go out there, we think we’ve got a chance to win.”
In a battle of top National League pitchers, Dickey outdueled Lance Lynn, who lasted just 4 2/
3 innings, giving up three runs – two earned – five hits and four walks while striking out three.
After Ike Davis led off the second inning with a single to right, Lynn hit Omar Quintanilla with a pitch. Thole’s infield single loaded the bases for Dickey.
Dickey then hit a grounder to second baseman Daniel Descalso, who after mishandling the ball in search of a double play, threw the ball to first, where Matt Adams couldn’t make the grab. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Andres Torres each recorded RBI groundouts following the error, giving the Mets a three-run cushion. The Mets scored off a wild pitch in the seventh and David Wright smashed the first pitch he saw from Mitchell Boggs in the eighth over the fence in rightcenter, extending the Mets’ lead to 5-0.
Even less than 24 hours removed from the team’s first no-hitter, Dickey stood out on Saturday. With 38 strikeouts against just two walks in his last four outings, he is enjoying the most dominant stretch of his career. “I don’t recall (a better stretch) that’s for sure,” Dickey said. “But I’m also always growing. I’m thankful that I’m at a place where I can be honest about what I’m not good at and try to improve upon those things.”