Through four innings the Orioles have looked pretty helpless at the plate against Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Their only baserunner was Jake Arrieta, who drew a two-out walk in the third.
Other than that, the Orioles have grounded out seven times and struck out five times against the right-hander. The offense has failed to hit the ball out of the infield through four innings. Dickey has thrown 53 pitches.
The Mets right-hander is 10-1 with a 2.20 ERA on the year and is tied for first in the majors in wins. He is fourth in the National League in ERA and sixth in strikeouts.
Amazingly, he has allowed just one earned run over last five starts and is 5-0 with an ERA of 0.23 in that time. Over those starts he has pitched 39 2/3 innings, giving up just 20 hits and a batting average of .152. He has walked just three with 50 strikeouts in the five outings.
But so far, Arrieta has put up zeroes himself while the O's and Mets go to the fifth tied 0-0. Arrieta has given up three hits, throwing 68 pitches so far.
If they can get to Dickey and get a win tonight, the Orioles would move 13 games over the .500 for the second time this year. The first was on May 19 when they were 27-14.
The O's enter tonight at 39-27 with seven wins in their last eight games and a record of 10-4 over the past 14 games.
Update: The Orioles got their first hit on a Wilson Betemit single in the fifth so there will not be a no-hitter tonight at Citi Field. Betemit now has seven hits in his last 15 at-bats. A 0-0 game moves to the sixth.
Update 2: The 0-0 tie ended with one swing. Ike Davis hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to put New York ahead 4-0. It was his seventh homer of the season and first career slam. O's have some work to do now down 4-0 against Dickey.
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