Wright On Fire As Mets Defeat Marlins 9-3
MIAMI (WFAN/AP) — David Wright homered and singled three times in his fourth consecutive multi-hit game Saturday, while R.A. Dickey earned his fifth victory by pitching six innings to help the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 9-3.
The Marlins lost for only the second time in their past 11 games, while the Mets have been streaking, winning six of seven.
Wright singled home a run in the first inning, hit his fourth homer in the third, singled and scored in the sixth, and added an RBI single in the ninth. He finished 4 for 6 and raised his batting average to an NL-best .402.
He is enjoying a tremendous start to his season and leads the majors with an on-base percentage of .489.
"At the end of the year, David Wright is going to have some stinking really good numbers," manager Terry Collins said.
Dickey who improves to 5-1, gave up two runs and has allowed only seven in his past four starts.
"It was a real fight," Dickey said. "I threw a lot of real tumbleweeds up there, balls that were kind of over-rotating on me. I didn't have my swing-and-miss knuckleball, but they were hitting enough pieces of it to give me some groundballs, and I was able to make a big pitch when I needed it."
The knuckleballer earned a painful RBI when he was hit on his pitching hand in the fifth inning with the bases loaded. He received a visit from a trainer but was able to stay in the game.
"I was thankful that it hit me in the meatier part of the wrist, but you just never know" Dickey said. "We'll see how it feels in the morning."
Ricky Nolasco fell to 4-1 and missed a chance to break the Marlins' record for career victories by earning his 69th win. Instead, he endured his 52nd defeat by allowing six runs in 4 2-3 innings.
Nolasco gave up nine hits, walked three and hit consecutive batters, including Dickey.
Andres Torres had a two-run single in the fifth to knock Nolasco out of the game. Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy each contributed three of the Mets' 16 hits.
The Marlins went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and are batting .199 in those situations, worst in the majors. They had two runners tagged out between second and third.
The Mets have been winning lately with comebacks, but this time they led from the first. Nolasco walked three in the inning and gave up an RBI single to Wright.
Catcher's interference by Brett Hayes prolonged the Mets' fourth inning, allowing them to score a run. With runners at second and third with two out, Torres flied out, but his swing knocked the glove off Hayes' hand. Torres was awarded first base, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with an RBI single.
Wright singled in the sixth and later scored on Daniel Murphy's single to put the Mets ahead 7-1. Wright dropped his final hit into short right field with two out in the ninth, and he has 11 hits in his past 21 at-bats.
"I'm getting some that are falling in, finding some holes," he said. "A lot of it is probably luck. This sport isn't like a lot of other sports. You can go up there and have good at-bats, and have nothing to show for it results-wise. You can go up there and have bad at-bats, and have good results. It's funny how this game works, so you try to take advantage of it when you can."
The Marlins scored in the second inning when their first three batters singled. Gaby Sanchez's hit drove in the run.
Giancarlo Stanton doubled home a run in the sixth and Hanley Ramirez had an RBI double in the seventh. Jose Reyes had four hits for Miami.
Notes: Wright improved his average against Nolasco to .400 (24 for 60) with five homers. ... Wright is batting .478 on the road. ... The Mets' Mike Baxter doubled in the ninth to improve his average as a pinch hitter to .438 (7 for 16). ... Omar Infante is hitting .190 lifetime (4 for 21) against Sunday's starter for the Mets, Jonathon Niese.
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