Game #152: Braves 1, Mets 0

The Mets' R. A. Dickey pitched another quality start, but still took a loss. (NYTimes.com)

Often this year after the Mets score an ungodly amount of runs, I've jokingly said, "Pace yourself, guys! Spread these runs out!" Well, it's not much of a joke today.

R.A. Dickey pitched an absolute gem, but Tim Hudson's gem was shiner, as he tossed 8 shutout innings and helped the Braves knock off the Mets 1-0.

The Bad Stuff:

• How many times have I written these words this season? "Dickey great, no support." I could probably make it into some kind of shorthand: DGNS. Whenever you see that, you know what's going down. R.A. Dickey gave up his first run in the 8th inning, spoiling an otherwise spectacular 7 2/3 innings of work. Oh, and guess who knocked in that game-winning hit with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th? That Larry person. How many cliches can you have in one game?
• Tim Hudson had to be even better than R.A., and he was: New York could not get anything going against him, managing just 4 hits in 8 innings, stranding 5 and going 0-5 with RISP. Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel finished the job by striking out the side in the 9th, completing the power outage.

The Good Stuff:

• When you only give up 1 run, usually you'd expect to get the win. Unless you're R.A. Dickey, whose 1 run on 3 hits in 7 2/3 innings wasn't enough to avoid his 13th loss of the year. Dickey was a bit wild on the day, walking 6, but what more could you ask from him?

Final Analysis:
These last couple games seem to mirror that stretch in early June: embarrassing loss, Collins meltdown, huge win, letdown loss. The last time this happened, the Mets went on a great run, winning 8 of 11. Only time will tell if the team can pull off that feat again. If they can, it will certainly take the sting out of this final couple months of the year.

MM