Mets Game 53: Win Over Cardinals

Mets 5 Cardinals 0

Another day, another shutout …

Mets Game Notes

R.A. Dickey didn’t pitch a no-no, but his win counts the same as the one on Friday night. His knuckler was dancing marvelously, as has been the case in nearly every one of his starts. He cruised through the full nine frames, allowing just 7 hits, no walks, striking out 9, and expending exactly 100 pitches; he made it look easy. Dickey is now 8-1 and an All-Star appearance is pretty much guaranteed; my thought is that if he keeps pitching like this, he has a genuine shot at the Cy Young.

With Dickey preventing the Redbirds from flying over home plate, the Mets only needed one run, and managed that plus four insurance scores. Their unassuming — maybe boring? — method of plating the first three in the third inning reminded me of the Bobby Cox Braves of the 1990s and early 2000s, when it didn’t seem like they were doing anything exciting over the course of a game but you’d look up and see the score was 6-1 in their favor and you’d say, “when did that happen?”

David Wright, Daniel Murphy, and Josh Thole all went 2-for-4, with Wright blasting a solo homer. Wright seems to be back on track after his mini-slump — maybe he’ll get back on the chase for .400.

Next Mets Game

Game three between these two clubs begins on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN. The pitching matchup is Jonathon Niese vs. Jake Westbrook.