R.A. Riles Redbirds

The Mets blanked the Redbirds behind the resurgent R.A. Dickey’s remarkable 8 1/3 innings of four-hit ball. The New York hurler, pitching on three days’ rest, pulled away from Citi Field with his seventh victory of the season as the Mets prevailed 4-0 over St. Louis. Thursday’s win propelled the Mets to take two out of three games against the rival Redbirds. It was New York’s fifth win in their last 18 tries. For Tony LaRussa’s Cardinals, Thursday was the tenth time the team has been shutout this year.
The Mets have played three 13 inning games in the last eight days, but showed no ill effects at the plate last night against Cardinal starter, Blake Hawksworth. Jose Reyes doubled to lead off the third inning and advanced on Angel Pagan’s drag bunt between the mound and first base to get the Mets’ offense rolling. Ike Davis drove the first pitch he saw from Hawksworth three rows deep to center for a three run bomb and 3-0 Mets lead. The stellar first baseman for New York reached base in all four at-bats Thursday, drawing three walks in addition to his three RBIs. Davis has 52 RBIs this season and 15 homeruns. He also started a pair of double plays at first base. The Mets scored again during a three hit fifth inning, with Carlos Beltran earning an RBI single following Pagan’s seventh triple of the season. New York left 18 runners on base, however, an ongoing probably for Jerry Manuel’s team.
Dickey was smooth sailing through eight innings, allowing only a first inning double by Jon Jay and a fifth frame leadoff slap by Ryan Ludwick before a pair of eighth and ninth inning base hits by Skip Schumaker and Colby Rasmus. It was the lengthiest outing of the year for Dickey, and one of the best of his career. Francisco Rodriguez was summoned from the Mets’ bullpen to record the final two outs of the game. KRod succeeded in getting the league’s best slugger, Albert Pujols, to fly out and retired power-hitting outfielder, Matt Holliday a game-ending strikeout. St. Louis is 56-46, a half a game behind Cincinnati in the NL Central.

Parting Points: Feel good Friday band- The Supremes