Mets vs. Rockies Preview: Game #122 — R.A. Dickey vs. Alex White

Today's game notes, courtesy of @Mets.

Teams: Mets vs. Rockies
Date: Monday, August 20, 2012 • 7:10 p.m
Location: Citi Field • Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Alex White (2-6, 5.74) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (15-4, 2.89)
TV/Radio: SNY • WFAN • WQBU
Info: Game #122 • Home Game #59

Lineup

Ruben Tejada – SS
Mike Baxter – RF
David Wright – 3B
Ike Davis – 1B
Daniel Murphy – 2B
Scott Hairston – LF
Andres Torres – CF
Josh Thole – C
R.A. Dickey – RHP

METS AT A GLANCE: The Mets went 2-4 on their recent road trip...New York is 4-6 in its last 10 games...The Mets are 11-24 since the All-Star break (2-10 at home)...New York is 7-10 this month...New York is 15-24 in the first game of a series, including 8-11 at home.

AT HOME: The Mets are 28-30 at home this year...New York has lost 10 of its last 12 home games and have lost five home series in a row...The Mets last won a series at home on July 3-5, when they took two of three from Philadelphia...Daniel Murphy has the fourth-best home batting average (.343) in the National League.

SERIES NOTES: The Mets are 1-9-1 in 11 series in the second half...New York’s series win during that span was taking three of four from the Giants at San Francisco (July 30-August 2)...Overall, the Mets are 14-22-3 in series this season.

ERROR FREE: The Mets have not made an error in nine straight games, the team’s second-longest stretch of the season...The team is 3-6 in those games...New York went 11 consecutive games without an error from July 3-18, going 3-8...Since July 1, the Mets have the sixth-best fielding percentage in the majors (.987).

WALKS: Mets pitchers have not issued a walk in their last 18.0 innings dating back to the seventh inning on Friday night...New York pitchers have allowed 360 walks, tied for the fifth-fewest in the National League...Mets batters have walked 395 times, tied for the fourth-most in the NL.

STRIKEOUTS: Mets pitchers have notched 46 strikeouts in their last six games and rank ninth in the majors with 944 strikeouts...At the plate, the Mets have struck out 45 times in their last six contests and are tied for 10th in the majors with 951 strikeouts.

HOME RUNS: New York hit four home runs during their six-game road trip and the club has hit 20 home runs this month...Mets pitchers allowed nine home runs on the road trip and have surrendered 23 long balls this month...Overall, the Mets have hit 102 home runs, ranking 26th in the majors and have permitted 124, the 15th most in the majors.

MIKE BAXTER: Has hit in a career-best seven straight games, going 9-25 (.360) dating back to August 9.

IKE DAVIS: Has four extra-base hits (two doubles and two home runs) and four RBI in his last four games...Davis is hitting .288 (15-52) this month with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI...He has reached base safely in 13 of his 14 starts in August.

DAVID WRIGHT: Ranks fourth in the majors with a .411 on-base percentage, is seventh with a .320 batting average and tied for fourth with 35 doubles...Wright is tied for 12th in the National League with 75 RBI and eighth with 73 runs scored...He is tied for sixth in the NL with 53 extra-base hits...Needs one home run for his 200th career blast.

SCOTT HAIRSTON: Has hit in six straight games dating back to August 10...He’s hitting .450 (9-20) with four doubles...It’s his longest hitting streak since July 8-17, 2010 (also six games)...Hairston’s longest hitting streak is 10 games, done twice, last, May 6-19, 2009...Since July 26, Hairston is hitting .392 (20-51) with seven doubles, two home runs and seven RBI in 16 games.

ROB JOHNSON: The Mets voided his optional assignment to Buffalo (AAA) of the International League and instead placed him on the major league 15-Day Disabled List on August 15 with a ligament tear in his left thumb.

STARTERS/RELIEVERS: Mets starters rank ninth in the majors with a 3.93 ERA...New York’s bullpen has the worst ERA (4.98) in the majors ...The pen has not allow a run over its last 7.2 innings (three games).

R.A. DICKEY: Is tied for fourth in the majors with 15 wins, one behind Gio Gonzalez, Johnny Cueto and David Price...Dickey leads the National League with 175 strikeouts and ranks third in the majors behind Justin Verlander (180) and Max Scherzer (178)...Dickey is fifth in th NL with a 2.89 ERA.

COMPLETE GAMES: R.A. Dickey leads the National League with four complete games...His four complete games are tied for the most in a single season by a Mets pitcher since 1993, when Dwight Gooden tossed seven...Johan Santana (2010), Pedro Martinez (2005), Al Leiter (1998) and Bret Saberhagen (1994) also finished with four.

STRIKEOUTS: Dickey has nine or more strikeouts in each of his last three starts...He has already surpassed his career-high in strikeouts (134 in 2011)...He has six double-digit strikeout games, the most by a Mets pitcher in a single-season since David Cone recorded eight such games in 1992...Dickey’s six double-digit strikeout games are the second-most...Texas’ Yu Darvish has seven.

JON RAUCH: Has allowed one run over his last 21 appearances, spanning 15.0 innings (0.60 ERA) dating back to June 28...Rauch has yielded five hits, issued two walks and notched nine strikeouts during that stretch.

RISP: The Mets went 1-11 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are 21-108 (.194) with RISP over their last 16 contests...The Mets are hitting .257 with RISP on the season, ranking 10th in the majors ...The Mets are hitting .276 with runners in scoring position and two outs, the highest average in the majors.

TWO-OUTS: The Mets have scored 29 of their last 50 runs with two outs (58 percent)...New York is tied for the major league lead with Atlanta with 236 two-out runs...New York is hitting .267 with two outs, the third-highest average in the majors...New York’s pitching staff has permitted 216 runs with two outs, the sixth-most in the majors.

MINOR NOTE: RHP Collin McHugh was named the International League Pitcher of the Week for the week of August 13-19...McHugh went 1-0 with a 0.71 ERA (one earned run/12.2 innings)...He allowed eight hits and recorded 10 strikeouts...McHugh is 7-9 with a 2.88 ERA (46 earned runs/143.2 innings) and 132 strikeouts in 24 minor league starts this year between Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and Buffalo (AAA) of the International League.

U.S. AIR FORCE WEEK IN NEW YORK CITY: The Mets will help celebrate United States Air Force Week in New York City tonight...More than 1,100 airmen and their families will be in attendance for a special ceremony and pre-game performances...The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, will execute a pre-game flyover of Citi Field with six F-16 Fighting Falcons...The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Lieutenant General James M. Kowalski, Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command of Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

LAST START: Received his fourth loss of the season in the Mets’ 6-1 defeat vs. Cincinnati on August 15 at Great American Ballpark…Pitched 6.0 innings and allowed five runs, earned, and 10 hits...Walked two and struck out nine...Also yielded a season high-tying three home runs...Dickey only faced three left-handed batters in the game and faced 22 right-handed hitters...Right-handers hit .364 (8-for-22) with five extra-base hits...Dickey now has a career-high 175 strikeouts, surpassing last year’s total of 134 in his July 24 start vs. Washington.

RANKS: Dickey ranks in the top five in all three NL triple crown categories (W, ERA, K)...After his start on August 9 vs. Miami, he became the first pitcher in the NL to reach 15 wins this season...He is tied for second in the major leagues in wins with A.J. Burnett (Pit) and Jered Weaver (LAA)...Has struck out 175 in 168.1 innings this season, good for third in the majors and first in the NL...Is fifth in the NL with a 2.89 ERA...Jordan Zimmermann (Was) leads the NL with a 2.38 ERA...Dickey is fourth in the NL with a 1.04 WHIP and trails only Matt Cain (SF), Clayton Kershaw (LAD) and Madison Bumgarner (SF) who each own 1.01 marks...Also has six double-digit strikeout games this season, second to Yu Darvish (Tex) who has seven.

MORE RANKS: Has recorded 18 quality starts, tied for third in the majors...His K/BB ratio of 4.61 ranks fifth in both the majors and NL...Dickey has allowed four hits or less 10 times this season, tied for the third best total in the majors...He trails Gio Gonzalez (Was), Jered Weaver (LAA) with 11 such starts, and Francisco Liriano (Min) who has compiled 12 starts...Has limited opposing right-handed batters to a .215 (72-335) batting average this season, good for 15th in the majors and ninth in the NL.

COMPLETE GAMES: Tossed his National League-best fourth complete game of the season on August 9 vs. Miami…Dickey’s four complete games are tied for the most in a single season by a Mets pitcher since 1993, when Dwight Gooden tossed seven…Johan Santana (2010), Pedro Martinez (2005), Al Leiter (1998), Bret Saberhagen (1994) also finished with four.

STRIKEOUTS: After a stretch of four starts from July 5 vs. Philadelphia to July 24 vs. Washington in which Dickey posted a 6.04 ERA and .339 opponents-batting-average, allowing eight or more hits without striking out more than seven in each start, Dickey has now reeled off five consecutive starts of eight strikeouts or more with three walks or less...He struck out nine in his last start vs. Cincinnati...Dickey now has 12 starts in which he has struck out eight or more this season, good for second in the majors trailing only Max Scherzer (Det), who has 13 such starts.

DOUBLE-DIGIT STRIKEOUTS: Dickey has six double-digit strikeout games this year, the most by a Mets pitcher since David Cone threw eight in 1992...He had just one such start prior to this season...Has recorded back-to-back double-digit strikeout games twice this season...Became the first Mets pitcher to have back-to-back double-digit strikeout games since Pedro Martinez struck out 10 at Philadelphia on May 9, 2006 and another 10 at Milwaukee on May 14, 2006...He is the first Met since David Cone in 1988 to have two separate back-to-back double-digit strikeout games in the same season...Dickey has six double-digit strikeout games in his career, five this year, and all with the Mets.

LAST WIN VS. COLORADO: Dickey has never beaten the Rockies.

LAST WIN VS. COLORADO: Lost, 6-5, at Citi Field on April 14, 2011...Pitched 6.1 innings and allowed five runs, earned, eight hits and four walks...Struck out four.

CAREER VS. COLORADO:: In one career game, a start, Dickey is 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA (five earned runs/6.1 innings pitched) vs. Colorado.

KEY MATCHUPS:

• Dexter Fowler - .500 (2-4, 2B)
• Ramon Hernandez - .000 (0-4, BB)