Mets 4 Marlins 3
The home-team advantage in Flushing continues.
David Wright earned his first Major League save and R.A. Dickey furthered the impossible dream as the Mets beat the Marlins, going one game over .500 and a half-game over the Fish to take sole possession of third place in the NL East.
Game Notes
R.A. Dickey continues to play the part of himself in what is developing into a Hollywood script. Dickey held the Marlins to 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks over 6 1/3 innings, earning his third win in four starts. The 35-year-old relied on his multi-speed, dancing knuckler mixed with an occasional fastball to stymie the Florida offense. As an addendum to the already-brilliant script, and giving more legs to the legend, Dickey also has two hits in three at-bats, driving in one and scoring another, and boosting his season average to .375. Could a knuckleballer — like fine wine — get better with age? Or will the rest of the NL eventually catch on to his trickery?
Elmer Dessens solidified his status as the Mets’ setup man with a perfect inning and a third. That’s right, he’s Jerry Manuel’s 8th-inning guy. All it took was 4 straight outings of not embarrassing himself. Is that a credit to Elmer or a statement about the Mets bullpen? You make the call.
Francisco Rodriguez got two quick outs, then set up David Wright’s save by giving up an infield single, a walk, and a wild pitch to put runners on second and third for Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez chopped one down third and Wright turned a very difficult play into the final out of the game to give the Mets the victory. Though, the game might still be going on if Hanley had hustled.
To the delight of Luis Castillo-haters throughout the tri-state area, rookie Ruben Tejada hit an RBI double and scored a run.
To the chagrin of SABRnuts everywhere, Jeff Francoeur continued his Jerry Manuel-induced hot streak by going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Jason Bay also went 2-for-4, including his 14th double of the season.
From the leadoff spot, Jose Reyes saw more pitches than anyone else (21), walked twice, stroked a single, and stole his 14th base of the year. Even though he didn’t score nor drive in anyone, I’m starting to like Reyes hitting leadoff; I wonder if Jerry Manuel will stick with the experiment?
The Mets are now 20-9 at home — the only MLB team with 20 wins at home — and 8-18 on the road.
Next Mets Game
The Mets and Marlins do it again on Saturday afternoon at 4:10 PM. Yes, that means you will have the pleasure of listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver call the game courtesy of FOX. Jon Niese comes off the DL to face Nate Robertson in a matchup of southpaws.
