New York Mets beat San Diego Padres 2-0 as R.A. Dickey strikes out ten - MLB Update
Starter R.A. Dickey delivers the New York Mets 2-0 victory against the San Diego Padres in fourth game of the four match series at Citi Field, New York, NY on May 27, 2012.
The last two games have been nightmarish for the Padres. Far from putting up any resistance, they were made to toil for hits. This has come mainly due to an impeccable control the Mets' pitchers have shown.
Rotation is the area the Mets have been most concerned about. Following an injury by Mike Pelfrey, options ran out. Losing a reliable starter meant that run-leakage at start of the innings are going to become a norm for the Mets.
Thanks to Dickey, Jon Niese and Johan Santana, the Mets did not struggle as much as was feared.
Dickey is using his knuckler to the maximum and piling up strike-outs in the season. On Sunday, Dickey pitched little more than seven innings and struck-out 10. What was even more impressive was the fact that he gave up three hits.
"It's nice to be able to celebrate some good outings in a row and, hopefully, the next guy out feels an obligation to keep it where it's at right now," Dickey said. "I certainly did after Johan passed the gauntlet."
By the time he left the mound, the Padres braced for an opportunity to score runs and go past the Mets. Much to their disappointment, relievers were even better. Frank Francisco threw ninth and was scoreless. He recorded the 13th save of the season.
Left fielder Mike Baxter was brought up the order. Against the backdrop of incredible performance in the last few games, the Mets hoped to see him showing firepower at start of the innings.
He did the reasonable job. In four at-bats, he connected one hit and completed one run.
Third baseman David Wright was hitless again. Although he went aboard for once, he missed three at-bats. With this, his batting average has lowered to .382.
Getting pitchers to keep showing command on the mound is something the Mets’ manager Terry Collins will be looking forward to.
This way they can maintain their current second position on National League East Division table.
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