NEW YORK (AP) - R.A. Dickey followed up Johan Santana's no-hitter by shutting out St. Louis, David Wright homered and the New York Mets beat the Cardinals 5-0 on Saturday.
Dickey (8-1) gave up seven hits, struck out nine and walked none in his third career shutout - first this season. The Mets scored three runs in the second, on a mishandled grounder and two run-scoring groundouts to win for the sixth time in eight games.
Carlos Beltran got the Cardinals' first hit of the series, a clean double against Dickey in the second inning - a day after he hit a shot down the line that looked fair but was ruled foul against Santana. The Cardinals have lost four straight and seven of nine.
Citi Field brimmed with happy energy on a breezy, sunny day the day after Santana pitched the first no-hitter in more than 50 years of team history. T-shirts with the phrase "No-Han" commemorating Santana's feat were advertised on sale during the seventh inning stretch.
Cardinals starter Lance Lynn allowed five hits and two earned runs in 4 2-3 innings, leaving with the score 3-0 and runners on second and third. Lynn (8-2) walked four and struck out three, losing for the second time in four decisions since starting the season with six straight wins.
Dickey held the Padres scoreless for 7 1-3 on Sunday, striking out 10. The start before that, he fanned 11 against the Pirates, allowing one run in seven innings. He hasn't allowed a run in 17 1-3 innings overall.
He gave up a bunt single to Rafael Furcal and a line-drive to Daniel Descalso to begin the ninth, but Matt Holliday hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Beltran flied out to right field to end the game in a brisk 2 hours, 34 minutes.
The reborn knuckleballer who was almost out of baseball before committing to the pitch and remaking his career, baffled the Cardinals all day, getting swinging strikes and weakly hit grounders.
Cardinals hitters swung and missed repeatedly at the fluttering pitch. Dickey ended the fifth inning by throwing four straight knuckleballs to Adams, then getting him to swing at a fastball.
Omar Quintanilla put an even bigger exclamation point on the seventh inning, when he dived to his left to get a hot grounder from Yadier Molina. The shortstop then popped to his feet, spun, and fired to first, prompting a big fist pump from Dickey, who was already striding off the mound. Dickey struck out the side in the eighth to put himself on the cusp of three straight games with double-digit strikeouts.
As it is, he has 30 in his last three starts.
The Mets got all the scoring they needed in the second, though Daniel Murphy added a run in the seventh when Eduardo Sanchez threw a wild pitch while Dickey batted.
Ike Davis led off the second with a single and Quintanilla was hit by a pitch. Josh Thole loaded the bases on an infield single before Dickey reached out and tapped a ball to second base. Descalso fielded it, stumbled and dropped it. Once Descalso got the ball back, he rushed his throw to first, where Matt Adams dropped it for an error that allowed Dickey to reach and gave the pitcher an RBI.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a grounder to Adams, and Andres Torres grounded out to shortstop before Wright ended the inning with a grounder of his own.
NOTES: After highlights of his no-hitter from the night before were played on the scoreboard, Santana stepped out of the Mets dugout and tipped his cap as fans gave him a warm hand before the game started. ... Mets manager Terry Collins said he was conflicted about letting Santana pitch for so long - 134 pitches, a career high. He said the Mets would wait a bit to see whether Santana will be pushed back a day or two before his next start. ... Cardinals RHP Jake Westbrook is set to start Sunday night's game against lefty Jonathon Niese. ... Adams was nowhere near the first base bag when LF Holliday uncorked a throw that advanced two runners in the fifth inning, and was removed via double switch when Cardinals manager Mike Matheny pulled Lynn. ... Mets OF Mike Baxter was out of the lineup a day after hurting his shoulder when he ran into the wall making a catch. Collins said Baxter was in a lot of pain and having tests.