Mets 6, Indians 4: Broomstick At The Ready, Dickey Steams Cleveland

I don't even know what that headline means, but I do know this: R.A. Dickey struck out seven over six innings, mixing in plenty of ground balls along the way, while the Mets' offense kicked in enough early run support to overcome the ongoing Jerry Manuel miscarriage of rationality that allows Pedro Feliciano to ever face decent-or-better right-handed batters.

The Mets roughed up would-be future Met Jake Westbrook, racking up 11 hits and two walks (one intentional) and plating five runs in seven uninspiring innings. Jose Reyes continues to lay waste to opposing pitching, collecting another three hits and raising his OPS to .706, unspectacular but far better than the .628 it rested at just eleven days ago.

Henry Blanco knocked in a run on a 1-for-4 night and is making a case for more playing time, especially since Rod Barajas has been knocked down to sub-deity and could well have woken up to realize that he is, in fact, Rod Barajas. Blanco now has the OPS lead at .798 to .772, and it's almost a certainty that he's a better defensive catcher. Particularly if Barajas continues to struggle/regress/play to his true performance level, Blanco should be starting half the time instead of the 3:1 split that currently favors Barajas.

Jeff Francoeur's OPS by month.

April: .886
May: .535
June: 1.040

His .327 wOBA is 24th of 27 qualifying MLB right fielders. But he's swinging the bat well right now, he has a nice smile, and he's affable with reporters so therefore he can do no wrong. Is there any justification for benching Angel Pagan in favor of Francoeur if/when Carlos Beltran ever comes back? No, not really, except maybe against lefties. Will Pagan ride the pine anyway, because Francoeur is a Proven Veteran™ who was once on the cover of Sports Illustrated? Mos def.

David Wright whiffed again so the AA Pledge-O-Meter to benefit CARE is up to $915.72. If you haven't yet pledged be sure to check out the original post and chip in to fight poverty.

The Mets depart Cleveland with a seven game winning streak, having swept consecutive road series for the first time in a long time (sure, they were among the dregs of the American League, but they were sweeps nonetheless). They head back to New York as visitors for a three game series at Sterile Corporate Monolith Park Yankee Stadium III. Hisanori Takahashi takes on Javier Vazquez at 7:05pm on SNY.

Poem by Howard Megdal

Pitches that serpentine, squiggle and swagger
Thrown at the speed that an old man might stagger
Dickey is dominant, Met hitters mash
Fun though their opponent clearly is trash
Now common refrain, the Mets win again
Streak is at seven, Yanks next- MAKE IT TEN!

SB Nation Coverage

* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Let's Go Tribe Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: Jose Reyes, +20.7% WPA, Ike Davis, +14.5% WPA
Big losers: Jeff Francoeur, -7.2% WPA, David Wright, -4.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Reyes RBI triple in eighth, +14.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Santana RBI double in fifth, -12.5% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +20.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: +29.1% WPA
GWRBI!: Ike Davis

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by CTRefJay; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.