Game #156: Mets 6, Pirates 5

(NYDailyNews.com)

When Johan Santana tossed his no-hitter in June, Howie Rose told us to "Put it in the books, the HISTORY books!" Chalk up September 27, 2012 in those books as well.

Behind a clutch home run from David Wright, R.A. Dickey dazzled fans in New York's final home game of the season to bring home his 20th win, with the Mets triumphing over the Pirates, 6-5.

The Good Stuff:

• While his ERA went up a couple points, all attention was on that statistic so many sabermetricians shun nowadays: Ws. R.A. Dickey became the 6th Met to earn 20 of those in a single season, turning yet another quality start of 7.2 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and a strikeout total turned the DICKEY sign at Citi Field into DICKKKKKKKKKKKKKEY (that's 13 Ks, for your convenience). And all that with a season-high 128 pitches.
• All would have been meaningless had the Mets not turned on their offensive jets once again.
• Ike Davis put a run on the board with a solo homer in the 2nd (Mike Baxter would've had one himself but fell victim to the catch of the year by Travis Snider).
• New York got 3 hits in the 4th and scored on Scott Hairston's RBI single.
• Andres Torres led off the 5th with a walk, then after Dickey failed to advance him, Ruben Tejada singled. Daniel Murphy's base hit brought in Torres. Then David Wright, now the Mets' all-time hits leader, added one more to the pile with a 3-run blast to right center not even Snider could get to. 6-3 Mets, and the way things have gone for Dickey this year, it was more than enough.

The Bad Stuff:

• It was not more than enough, however, for Jon Rauch and the New York bullpen. Rauch needed one pitch to get the last out of the 8th, but walked a guy and served up a 2-run homer to Alex Presley in the top of the 9th. But Bobby Parnell saved the day by getting Josh Harrison to ground out to Ruben Tejada (who made a fantastic play) and Jose Tabata to fly out to a sprinting Mike Baxter to send this final Citi Field crowd of the season (31,506 strong, including many of my colleagues at Rising Apple) home very, very happy.

Final Analysis:
Howie Rose ended the day by saying something to the tune of "it's not often that you leave the park on the final day of a season you failed to contend and be completely happy." But Mets fans can rejoice on this day because Robert Allen Dickey reached the milestone he so deserved. For a great pitcher and an even better man, this was a crowning achievement on a year which has brought him so much. And that, I would say, is worth the price of admission. Congratulations, R.A. Dickey! Now let's get him that Cy Young Award.

MM

(MetsBlog.com)