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Dickey dazzles as Mets blank Dodgers

Jun 30, 2012 - 6:46 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - R.A. Dickey bounced back from a rough start to finish an otherwise flawless June with eight strong innings as the New York Mets dominated the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-0, in the second of a four-game set.

Dickey (12-1) capped a fantastic June with a three-hit effort on Friday that saw him walk one and strike out 10. He began the month with a seven-hit blanking of St. Louis on June 2 and also shutout Baltimore on June 18. His last start on Sunday saw him get tagged for five runs over six innings in a no-decision against the Yankees.

"The ball came out of my hand easy tonight," Dickey said. "I hit the strike zone, I've been able to be consistent. I thought mechanically things went well."

He went 5-0 in June, helping him become the first 12-game winner in the majors. During the month, he allowed just five earned runs in 48 1/3 innings, striking out 55 while walking eight and giving up 21 hits.

Daniel Murphy hit a three-run home run and drove in five while Ruben Tejada went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Mets, who have won three straight.

Aaron Harang (5-5) gave up five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits with four walks over 5 2/3 innings to stay winless over his past four starts. He also had one of the three hits for the Dodgers, who have dropped six straight and have been blanked in four of those games.

"We didn't do a whole lot with R.A. We had trouble getting anything going. We have to stay the course, you go through rocky points during the season," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

The Mets wasted a bases loaded chance in the first inning, but got on the board in the third.

Andres Torres reached base on Jerry Hairston's error and Tejada followed with a single. David Wright singled home the first run and Ike Davis hit into a double play to drive in Tejada for a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth, the Mets plated three more runs. With one out, Tejada doubled and Wright followed with an intentional walk. Two batters later, Duda singled home one runner and Murphy drove home the next two with a double for a 5-0 lead.

Murphy's three-run home run in the seventh was followed later in the inning by a Tejada single to center for a 9-0 lead.

Dickey retired the first eight batters he faced before Harang slipped a single to center.

After that he set down the next nine batters before plunking Dee Gordon with two outs in the sixth.

That prompted a warning to both benches by home plate umpire Todd Tichenor as Harang had hit Tejada with a pitch in the Mets' prior at-bat.

The Dodgers got two on with one out in the seventh, but James Loney hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Dickey stranded a runner on third in the eighth before stepping aside for Jeremy Hefner, who blanked the Dodgers in the ninth to cap the shutout.

Game Notes

Dickey has won his last 10 decisions, a span of 12 starts, after his only loss of the season on April 18 in Atlanta...Murphy tied a career-high in RBI...The Dodgers have lost 10 of their last 11 and have scored just 15 runs during that stretch...The Mets have won seven of their last nine against the Dodgers.