Quality Dickey start headlines community win

Consider the steep hill of improbability facing the Mets, the odds against their ascent to the postseason. Now consider their access to a full-fledged mountain climber, recent Kilimanjaro conqueror R.A. Dickey, whose survival-mode pitching Saturday summarized a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves that kept the 2012 Mets unbeaten at 2-0.

There was a chill wind blowing through Citi Field, not a helpful climate for a knuckleballer like Dickey. He began the game by surrendering a double to Michael Bourn and, after Bourn reached third on an infield out, bounced another knuckler off Josh Thole's glove that sent Bourn racing home.

But Thole pounced on the ball 20 feet behind the plate and threw to Dickey covering, and the sliding Bourn was out. "That's when I knew it was going to be a good day," Thole said.

Consider what novelist John Grisham said about his new baseball book, "Calico Joe," that "almost every baseball story is sad, because it's about unfulfilled potential and broken dreams and all that."

Now consider what Dickey, himself an author of the just-released "Wherever I Wind Up," thinks about that:

"If you look at the Mudville Nine, or even 'The Natural' and that movie 'Field of Dreams,' there is a pattern there. But I think what baseball does, more than any other sport, it kind of speaks to the soul. Life doesn't always end up like you want it to. And then what? That's the next question. Then what?"

In Saturday's strong breezes, "It was really tough for R.A," manager Terry Collins said. "He told me it was like throwing a piece of glass."

Thole said there "are times you can tell how the ball is coming out of his hand, where it might be headed. Today it was a coin flip."

Still, past that first-inning danger, the Mets and Dickey persevered. Allowing five hits and two runs in six innings, Dickey achieved what is known in baseball minutiae as a 13th consecutive "quality start" -- at least six innings, giving up a maximum of three earned runs.

Dickey called it a "community win," citing all his teammates' contributions, and lectured himself for having allowed two two-out walks.

"But I made enough good pitches," he said. "It's a goal of mine to be dependable, to give our team a chance to win, to be trustworthy when I'm thrown out there. I put a lot of pride in that. It's a big deal to me.

"There's days when you feel really dominant and there's days when you're just trying to survive. Today I was trying to survive the best I could. I didn't have my best stuff, but a lot of days are like that. I'd say, probably if you have 33 starts in a year, you probably have 10 where you feel really good and things really fall into place."

Meanwhile, to have overcome the difficulties offered its own satisfaction, "because anybody can pitch when you've got your best stuff," Dickey said. "It's been a good couple of days for us, and I hope we can maintain that momentum. I think we can. I'm hoping this can be the norm for us."

The Mets know: There's enough sadness in baseball.