Remembering Mets History (2012) R.A. Dickey's Three One Hitters

Wednesday June 13th, 2012: Terry Collins' Mets (34-29) were in second place five games behind the Nationals as they visited Joe Maddon's third place Tampa Rays (35-27). The Rays had made the playoffs the past two seasons.

A crowd of 18,496 came to the dome covered Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, in Western Florida off the Gulf of America.

In a top pitching matchup Collins sent the Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey (9-1) to the mound against David Price (8-3). 

R.A. Dickey came into the game on a personal; seven game win streak having not taken a loss
since April 18th.

Quotes- Terry Collins: "When you look at what he's done & what he's accomplished & the way he's pitching right now, you've got to think this guy is one of the top three or four pitchers in baseball".

In the bottom of the 1st, Dickey struck out the first two batters. B.J. Upton the Rays third batter hit a weak grounder to David Wright at third base, who did not handle the ball cleanly & Upton reached first on what was ruled a single.

Trivia: The Mets later appealed to have the scoring ruled an error, but it was denied.

Dickey would retire the next 22 batters in order, getting to the 9th inning. He ended the 2nd inning striking out Jose Lobaton then struck out the first two batters in the 3rd inning. In the bottom of the 4th, he struck out the side reaching eight strike outs after four. He added a strike out in each of the next three innings as well, reaching a new career high 12 strike outs.

David Price held the Mets scoreless thru the first four innings. In the top of the 5th inning, Ike

Davis doubled to right field. Catcher Mike Nickeas' singled bringing in Ike with the first run. Andres Torres doubled to left getting Nickeas to third, Daniel Murphy then drove a base hit to right field bringing in both runners making it a 3-0 Mets lead for Dickey.

In the top of the 6th, New York's Scott Hairston & Jason Bay both singled. Then Vinny Rottino who played just 18 games with the Mets, doubled down the right field line scoring Hairston with the Mets fourth run. Ike Davis then singled scoring Jason Bay making it 5-0 Mets. 

Short stop Omar Quintanilla singled as well bringing in Vinny Rottino & Ike for a 7-0 lead. In 29 games with the Mets that year, Quintanilla drove in just two more runs for four RBIs on the season.

In the top of the 9th with J.P. Howell now pitching for Tampa, Andres Torres & Daniel Murphy both got aboard to start the inning. David Wright then doubled bringing in both runners making it a commanding 9-0 lead. 

At the time Wright was batting .350.

In the bottom of the 9th inning the Rays, Elliot Johnson hit a slow roller to third base, David Wright made a bad throw to first base & Johnson was ruled safe on an error. 

The knuckleball that was working so well all evening, led to catcher Mike Nickeas getting charged with two passed balls, allowing Elliot Johnson to reach third base. With one out, Desmond Jennings grounded out to Omar Quintanilla at short as Elliot Johnson was able to score the Rays only run of the game.

Mets Scoreless Innings Record: Dickey had reached 32.2 consecutive scoreless innings up to that point setting a new franchise record, passing Jerry Koosman's mark of 31.2 scoreless innings set in 1973. His streak of not allowing an earned run continued.

The Rays Carlos Pena then popped up behind home plate & Mike Nickeas made the catch for the final out. R.A. Dickey had pitched the 36th one hit game in Mets history. His line score was one unearned run, one hit, 12 strike outs & no walks. Only three Rays batters hit balls past the infield. He was the first pitcher to reach ten wins on the season & had a 2.20 ERA.

Quotes- R.A. Dickey: "To be mentioned in the same sentence as that guy is pretty special. I had a good knuckleball & it was going really well. It makes for a fun night when you're throwing a lot of strikes".

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Monday, June 18th, 2012: Working again on five days' rest, Dickey was making his next start at Citi Field, as the second place Mets (36-32) hosted Buck Showalter's second place Baltimore Orioles (38-28). 

A crowd of 29,014 came to see the knuckleball pitcher who was at the top of his game bringing some excitement to Citi Field. Six years earlier, Showalter had managed Dickey in Texas as he was struggling to learn the knuckleball.

The Orioles sent Jake Arrieta (3-8) to the mound to face Dickey (10-1) & the Mets.

In the top of the 1st inning, it was clear Dickey's knuckle ball was possibly better than in his last outing. He got the first two Orioles to hit weak ground balls to Oar Quintanilla at short then struck out Chris Davis to end the inning. 

Dickey rolled thru the O's order, collecting two strike outs in the first two innings, then starting the 3rd by striking out Wilson Betemit & Steve Pearce. He then walked the pitcher, Jake Arrieta but struck out Brian Roberts to finish the inning.

In the top of the 4th, the Orioles hit three ground ball outs. In the top of the 5th, Dickey struck out Matt Wieters & Mark Reynolds reaching seven K's on the night.

Then Wilson Betemit dropped a base hit into right field, spoiling any chance for a no hitter. The crowd stood & gave Dickey a standing ovation in appreciation of his effort. It was the only hit the Orioles would collect on the night.  Dickey retired 13 of the last 14 batters of the game, allowing just one base runner when he walked Betemit in the top of the 8th inning.

Jake Arrieta also pitched well, shutting out the Mets thru the first five innings. In the bottom of the 6th, Dickey led off with a base hit. After Kirk Nieuwenhis flew out, Jordany Valdespin doubled to left field. David Wright lined out to short stop for the second out. Lucas Duda then drew the two out walk. 

Grand Slam: Ike Davis came up & blasted a grand slam HR to center field, putting the Mets up 4-0. It was seventh HR of the year & his first career grand slam. 

Ike Trivia: In 2014 Davis would become the first player in MLB history to hit two grand slams for two different teams in the month of April. That year the Mets traded him to the Pirates.

In the bottom of the 8th, Jordany Valdespin hit a triple to center field. David Wright added an RBI single to complete the Mets scoring as they went on the 5-0 win.

In the top of the 9th, Brian Roberts grounded out for the first out. Dickey then struck out JJ Hardy for his 12th strike out matching his career high he had set in his last outing. 

He then ended the game striking out Chris Davis to reach a new career best 13 strike outs.

R.A. Dickey earned his eleventh victory (11-1) pitching the 5-0 one hit shutout. He struck out 13 batters on the night & walked two.

One Hit Trivia: Dickey became the eighth pitcher in MLB history to throw back-to-back one hitters. In 1988 the Toronto Blue Jays' Dave Stieb was the last MLB pitcher to have done it. The last NL pitcher to throw consecutive one hit complete games was Mort Cooper for the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals.

He also became the third pitcher along with Sandy Koufax & Nolan Ryan to throw two one hitter & have 12 or more strike outs in that game. He is the only one to do it in back-to-back starts.

Quotes- R.A. Dickey: "I'm riding a pretty good wave right now"

Mets Trivia: Dickey had also pitched 42.2 innings without allowing an earned run, second to Dwight Gooden's streak of 49 innings without allowing an earned run in 1985.

R.A. Dickey would get named to the NL All Star team & was the third Mets pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. (Tom Seaver & Dwight Gooden) Dickey won twenty games (20-6) becoming the sixth Mets pitcher in franchise history to win twenty or more games in a season. 

He also led the NL in strike outs (230) starts (33) complete games (5) & shut outs (3).