Dickey's one-hit shutout leads Mets past Phillies, 1-0
New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey points towards home plate after pitching a complete game one hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies. (Aug. 13, 2010) Credit: Christopher Pasatieri
Who needs a closer?
With Francisco Rodriguez suspended for two games, the Mets never even bothered to make a call to the bullpen in his absence. They didn't have to.
After Johan Santana's shutout Thursday, R.A. Dickey followed with a one-hitter Friday to lead the Mets over the Phillies, 1-0, at Citi Field. Dickey (8-5) allowed only a soft single to Cole Hamels with one out in the sixth inning.
Afterward, Dickey admitted that it did hurt knowing that Hamels, the opposing pitcher, foiled his chance at throwing the first no-hitter in franchise history. Instead, Dickey settled for the Mets' second one-hitter this season - Jonathon Niese has the other - and knowing that he delivered the team's first back-to-back wins since June 22-23 against the Tigers at Citi Field.
"I could do two things," Dickey said, "I could pretend [Hamels] didn't get a hit and have a no-hitter for myself. Or I could get real mad at Frenchy [rightfielder Jeff Francoeur] that he didn't throw him out at first."
Dickey was joking, but unlike the Mets, the Phillies looked uptight at Citi Field, where they have yet to score in four games this season. Other than Hamels' bloop hit, they didn't get many solid swings on Dickey, who was helped out by great defense. Jose Reyes robbed Jimmy Rollins with a diving stop on the first play of the game, and also made a lunging grab of Mike Sweeney's liner to open the second inning and David Wright backhanded a Sweeney grounder down the third-base line before making the long throw to get him for the final out of the fourth inning.
"We put an emphasis on pitching and defense," manager Jerry Manuel said. "We feel that's the formula for winning and that's been a big part of our success."
The Phillies pummeled Dickey on Sunday for six runs in three innings, his shortest outing in 16 starts this season. On Friday, he relied almost exclusively on his knuckler, throwing only three fastballs in 105 pitches. The Mets' last four wins have all been by shutout. The last time that happened was 1969.
"I like our chances from here on out if we keep getting complete-game shutouts," David Wright said. "A lot of times in baseball, things like that are contagious. So Johan does it, and R.A. kind of follows his lead, really does a fantastic job.
"Now you're talking about getting to the point where we've got to make a run. To get back-to-back performances like that, that's tremendous not only for the results, but also for the psyche, and the ability to create some momentum moving forward."
Wright snapped his 0-for-15 skid with a double that centerfielder Shane Victorino seemed to misplay. Up next was Carlos Beltran, who drilled a deep fly ball to leftfield that caromed off the wall for an RBI double.
The Mets failed to tack on any more runs, and Mike Hessman had a home run overturned by an umpire review in the fifth. But Dickey made sure one run was enough.
"It was a real gift," Dickey said. "It was an outing where I didn't have any regret. I was just thankful this game wasn't about phantom home runs or K-Rod or a runner we didn't get in from third. That wasn't the story and it was nice."
