Mets Game 63: Win Over Rays

Mets 9 Rays 1

R.A. Dickey didn’t throw the second no-hitter in Mets history … or did he?

Meanwhile, the Mets continue to work on their Pythagorean Won-Loss record in response to Nick Jablonski’s blog post.

Mets Game Notes

The Rays’ third hitter of the game, B.J. Upton, reached base on what was scored as an infield single to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Not another Ray had a hit for the rest of the evening, prompting the Mets to lodge an appeal with the commissioner’s office to have the official scorer’s “hit” call turned into an error. It was a tough play — a bouncer to David Wright that Wright attempted to field with his bare hand. The ball took a funny bounce away from Wright’s hand and no throw was made. I watched the play six times from the single camera angle provided by SNY and came away inconclusive — it’s hard to determine whether Wright had a legitimate chance without seeing how far down the line Upton was when the ball bounced past Wright. My gut tells me the official scorer got it right, as Upton can get to first base faster than most. But there’s also a part of me — the same part that’s also a huge R.A. Dickey fan — that thinks, “hmm … if Wright successfully barehands it, he might have a shot …” If that’s true, you have to look at it this way: would Wright have made the play because a Major Leaguer is expected to make that play, or because Wright goes above and beyond what is expected from a MLB third baseman? If it’s the former, then it’s an error; if it’s the latter, then it’s a hit.

Then there’s a part of me that doesn’t want it to be a no-hitter after the fact, as it didn’t — and won’t — have the true “feel” of a no-no. We weren’t on the edge of our seats from innings seven through nine wondering if it would happen, for example. Certainly, R.A. didn’t have the pressure of the no-hitter on his mind in the later innings — and that should count for something, shouldn’t it?

Imagine if Johan Santana didn’t throw his no-hitter — how would you be looking at this game? Would you have wanted the Mets’ very first no-hitter to happen like this, after the fact? And if your answer is “no,” then does that influence your perspective on how that appeal should be treated?

Aside from the one-hitter spun by Dickey, there was another avalanche of offense from the men in orange and blue. Just where the heck is this coming from? Don’t the Mets know that the Rays have the best pitching in baseball, and therefore have no business scoring twenty runs in two days against them? Not to mention, it could be argued that the men making the biggest contributions should be in Buffalo right now?

Dickey, by the way, threw 106 pitches in his complete-game effort. Rays starter David Price threw 109 pitches before leaving the game after five innings.

Don’t look now, but Ike Davis is swinging the bat with authority and starting to exude confidence. He had two hits and a walk and is 5 for his last 8 (or 6 for his last 10, whichever seems more impressive to you). Ike is now hitting .181, and only 50 points away from hitting his weight.

Next Mets Game

The final game of the series is Thursday afternoon getaway day style — a 1:10 p.m. start. Johan Santana goes to the hill against Jeremy Hellickson.