The last time the Mets won a game before they beat the Nationals this afternoon was twelve days ago. Sure, there was a four-day All Star break and an off day over that span, but entering play today, it felt like the Mets hadn't won a game in forever.
The victory was, for once, relatively easy. The Mets scored at least once in each of the four innings and gave R.A. Dickey a huge lead with which he could knuckle his way through the Nationals' lineup. David Wright opened up the scoring with a two-run blast in the first inning, but Ryan Zimmerman answered with a solo shot in the bottom of the frame that temporarily made the game seem a bit uneasy.
The Mets pulled away quickly thereafter, though. Ike Davis hit a solo home run leading off the second inning. The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning, and they at least didn't come up empty. Scott Hairston grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but a run scored to put the Mets ahead by three. After Jason Bay walk, a single by Ike brought home the Mets' fifth run of the afternoon.
In the fourth, Ruben Tejada tacked on a run with a rib-eye single, and Wright really put the game away with a three-run bomb, his second home run of the game.
Dickey allowed a run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Mike Morse, but he threw a scoreless seventh and came back out for the eighth. He allowed two singles and a double, and he was pulled in favor of Tim Byrdak with a runner on second and one out. The runner came around to score on an ensuing throwing error by David Wright, but Dickey finished the afternoon with five strikeouts, one walk, and three earned runs allowed. He still has an excellent 2.72 ERA and 2.82 FIP on the season.
It's not a 2012 Mets game with at least a little dose of the LOLpen, though. Byrdak , Ramon Ramirez, and Josh Edgin were all used to record the final two outs of the eighth inning, and Bobby Parnell allowed a run on two hits in the ninth inning. On the upside, he notched a pair of strikeouts, the latter of which ended the game.
The Mets open a three-game set with the Dodgers on 7:10 pm on Friday evening at Citi Field. Johan Santana takes the mound for the Mets, and Aaron Harang is scheduled to start for Los Angeles.
SB Nation Coverage
* Traditional Recap
* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Federal Baseball Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: David Wright, +24.5% WPA, Ike Davis, +16.1% WPA
Big losers: Scott Hairston, -4.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: David Wright's two-run home run in the first, +18.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ryan Zimmerman's solo home run in the first, -10.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +4.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: +45.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Ike Davis