R.A. Dickey pitched well again, only this time he has a victory to show for it. Dickey pitched into the ninth inning and Ike Davis blasted a big home run to lead the New York Mets to a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday in the rubber-game of their three-game set. Dickey (7-4) went 8 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts to pick up his first win since June 23. He was 0-4 in his six starts since then but had allowed three runs or less in four of those outings only to be done in by a lack of run support. Dickey has now gone 17 innings without allowing a run.
Davis provided all the support Dickey needed on this day, blasting a three-run home run to center in the third to make it 3-0. Carlos Beltran added an RBI single in the fifth for New York. Francisco Rodriguez recorded the final two outs in relief of Dickey to pick up his 22nd save of the season. The Cardinals have now lost consecutive series for the first time since June 7-13 and it is a perfect time for them to head home where they will face the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros, the two worst teams in the National League Central.
Blake Hawksworth (4-7) took the loss, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings.