Quick Recap: Reds 6, Mets 1 — Three Dongs Doom Dickey

R.A. Dickey was knocked around a bit tonight, allowing three solo home runs in six innings of work. The longballs weren't cheap either; Scott Rolen, Todd Frazier, and Jay Bruce each went deep way over the outfield wall, with Frazier's shot traveling an estimated 436 feet. Dickey's line looked pretty good outside of the dingers: he struck out nine, walked just two, and tallied 15 swinging strikes out of 100 pitches. Josh Thole allowed three passed balls on the night, perhaps a sign that the knuckler was really dancing. Dickey departed after the sixth inning with the Mets losing 5-1.

The Mets' offense did very little against Reds starter Mike Leake, who went the distance while giving up just four hits. Mike Baxter and Ruben Tejada each went 2-for-4 (both singles) at the top of the order. No other Mets batter even reached base. Baxter scored when Daniel Murphy hit into a double play in the fourth inning to account for the Mets' only run.

The umpires forced Dickey to cut off two friendship bracelets made by his daughters before he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro this past January. He has been wearing them all season but tonight was the night that the heroic umpire crew took a stand. Dickey was visibly upset during the minor kerfuffle. The umpires can go pound sand, as they say.

We knew it was over when...

Leake singled home Frazier in the sixth inning to give the Reds a 5-1 lead. A four-run deficit with three innings to go and Aroldis Chapman looming in the bullpen left little hope of a comeback.

What else?

The Mets drew no walks and only Ike Davis averaged at least five pitches-per-plate-appearance tonight. It's not surprising, considering Leake doesn't walk many. He threw a first-pitch strike to 22 of 30 batters, or 73%. Compare to the league-average first-pitch strike percentage of 60%. The Mets just couldn't put anything into play with authority.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the game thread embiggens us all.