Game #112: Mets 6, Marlins 1

(NYDailyNews.com)

With their backs against the wall, New York followed the lead of its nastiest pitch and danced itself out of a sweep.

R.A. Dickey tossed his 4th complete game and earned his 15th W of the year and Andres Torres single-handedly provided the necessary offense as the Mets salvaged the final game against the Marlins, 6-1.

The Good Stuff:

• R.A. Dickey flashed that Cy Young stuff today, riding the knuckleball to a complete game, allowing just a solo home run and 4 other hits, hitting one man, walking none, and striking out 10. Dickey became the first NL starter on the year to reach 15 wins and boosted his claim on the title of Best Pitcher in Baseball.
• Miami's Josh Johnson traditionally has owned New York, but it was a new Met that got the best of him and his relievers today. Andres Torres fell a single shy of the cycle, going 3-3 with 3 RBIs and his 2nd home run of the year in the 6th.
• Four other Mets picked up 2 hits on the day, including: Ruben Tejada, Mike Baxter, David Wright (including a double and his 73rd RBI), and Josh Thole (2 RBIs himself).
• Jose Reyes's 26-game hitting streak came to an end as he was out-maneuvered by Dickey's knuckler all afternoon.

The Bad Stuff:

• Would it be too much to ask for more of this kind of thing more often? Seriously, this was a fun time.

Final Analysis:
Dickey was masterful once again, and unlike last Friday in San Diego, he got the run support necessary to end up on the long side of the result. Four of the New York starting 9 finished the day with .300+ batting averages (Wright, Tejada, Murphy, Baxter), with newcomer Mike Baxter likely getting more playing time and more chance to boost that average. It was a great end to a disappointing series with the Mets picking up their first win at Citi Field in a little over a calendar month. The team will get the rest of the night off and get going again tomorrow night as Matt Harvey makes his home debut against Larry the Met-Killer and the Atlanta Braves.

MM