Mets Morning News: In His 19th Victory, R.A. Dickey Does Awesome R.A. Dickey Things, Nearly Hits Grand Slam

Meet the Mets

R.A. Dickey. There's not a whole lot to say after that but I'll try to say it anyway. For eight shutout innings on Saturday afternoon, Robert Allen Dickey was dominant in shutting down the Marlins, all while bolstering his already strong Cy Young chances. Dickey got into some trouble in the ninth, allowing a leadoff walk and a double before leaving to a standing ovation. To make matters worse, Jon Rauch came on to allow a three-run home run to John Buck. But the Mets held on for a 4-3 victory, giving Dickey his 19th victory of the year. He's now the first Mets pitcher to win 19 since Frank Viola and Dwight Gooden both did it in 1990 and he'll get his first shot at 20 wins on Thursday afternoon against the Pirates at Citi Field. To add to the thrills, Jason Bay hit a long two-run home run to center field off of Mark Buehrle and Scott Hairston added one that needed to be reviewed before he was ultimately waved around the bases. Of course, the highlight of the afternoon would've been R.A. Dickey hitting a grand slam, which he came within a few feet of doing, before Bryan Peterson made a nice leaping catch in front of the wall.

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The Mets go for the rare September sweep (well, they are playing the Marlins, after all) as they meet up with the Fish this afternoon at 1:10 PM. Chris Young takes the hill and he'll face Ricky Nolasco.

When you look up "awesome" in the dictionary, you just see a picture of R.A. Dickey. True story. The Cy Young award is right at his fingertips.

David Wright is just four hits away from the Mets' all-time hits record, long held by Ed Kranepool. Maybe it's just me but it feels like we haven't heard all that much about this.

Jeurys Familia is not likely to start until the last series of the year against the Marlins, as they are trying to audition their young pitchers for potential bullpen roles next season.

Frank Francisco is unavailable this weekend due to an elbow injury. Sadly, this has been an ugly year for Frank with all of the injuries and inconsistencies.

Toby Hyde took a look at how the Mets farmhands in the WBC qualifying games are doing.

By now, you've likely heard plenty about the Mets' new AAA agreement with the Las Vegas 51's. But you might not have seen their mascot. Oh my, what the hell is that?

Yesterday At AA

You can read all about R.A. Dickey's dominance in yesterday's AA game recap.

Yesterday's edition of This Date In Mets History celebrates the birthday of former '86 Met second baseman and current AAA manager Wally Backman.

Around the NL East

Gio Gonzalez became the first pitcher in baseball this year to win 20 games, as the Nationals destroyed the Brewers 10-4 on Saturday. Gonzalez certainly turned out to be quite the acquisition for the Nats. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay lasted just five outs, as the Braves torched him for six early runs and they went on to beat the Phillies 8-2. Are we buying that the Phillies are dead yet? Making matters worse, Roy Halladay visited a doctor on Friday because of a shoulder issue.

Around the Majors

Not much changed in the AL East race yesterday, as the Orioles and Yankees both won in extra innings. The O's beat the Red Sox 9-6 in 12 innings, while the Yankees and A's played a marathon that saw Oakland jump out to a 9-5 lead before the Yankees tied it at 9 apiece and eventually won the damn thing 10-9.

Two National League teams clinched divisions yesterday, as the Reds beat the Dodgers to clinch the NL Central and the Giants were crowned NL West champs when they beat the Padres. Remember when the Dodgers won the division with all of their deadline trades?

Unfortunately for the Reds, manager Dusty Baker is still in the hospital with an irregular heartbeat. Get well soon, Dusty.

Angels' owner Arte Moreno says that Jerry DiPoto and Mike Scioscia's jobs are safe for next year. Remember when people were predicting the Angels to win the World Series?

Grant Brisbee reviewed the new movie "Trouble With The Curve" so you don't have to go see it. It sounds like you probably wouldn't want to see it. Though Clint Eastwood does talk to inanimate objects, so if you're into that sort of thing, it may be right up your alley (NO POLITIX!).