R.A. Dickey didn’t have it in his last start. That was a brutal game against the Braves last Thursday night at Turner Field, one in which the Mets fell short in their attempt for a three-game sweep.
But last night, the Mets knuckleballer was nearly flawless, suffocating the A’s in the Mets’ 3-2, 4-hour, 13-inning win at Citi Field.
Dickey fired eight innings of three-hit, one-run ball, striking out eight and walking one. Consider it Dickey’s finest start of the season.
He appears to be righting himself after a tough start to his year. While his start against Atlanta last week was bad, he was excellent in his four previous full starts before that (he also had a 2 2/3-inning scoreless stint against the Cubs on May 26 that he left because of an injury).
Meanwhile, Dickey’s becoming extremely valuable in terms of helping the Mets’ bullpen. He’s now logged eight innings in three of his last four starts, and went 7 2/3 innings before that stretch began.
Dickey’s eight strikeouts last night were his second-highest total this season, trailing only the 10 he had versus the Pirates on Memorial Day. And against Oakland last night, he only made one real mistake — or at least only one real mistake that he paid for.
Through the first 4 1/3 innings, Dickey only permitted one hit, and the Mets led 1-0 against Oakland lefty Gio Gonzalez. But with one out and nobody on in the fifth, Dickey fell behind 1-0 to catcher Kurt Suzuki. On the next pitch, Suzuki blasted a game-tying shot over the left-field fence, making it 1-1.
The Mets broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth inning thanks to Jose Reyes’ one-out triple and Justin Turner’s RBI single. But Dickey missed out on his fifth win this season because of Francisco Rodriguez’s blown save.
Still, Dickey now has a respectable 3.76 ERA. It’s an uplifting development for him — Dickey was the staff’s best pitcher last season.
