Dickey baffles Tigers, Mets win

Tigers second-baseman Carlos Guillen tumbles over Mets Ike Davis after forcing out Davis in the 6th inning of the game at the Gotham City.

NEW YORK — R.A. Dickey pitched eight shutout innings and Jose Reyes homered to lead the New York Mets to a 5-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.

Dickey (6-0) won for the sixth time in seven starts. The former power pitcher's knuckleball appeared to come alive in the fifth inning, when he got the first of his four strikeouts.

Dickey allowed four hits and two walks, and retired his final 13 batters.

The Tigers lost for only third time in 11 games. Miguel Cabrera, who entered with a .409 on-base percentage, went 0-for-3 against Dickey before getting a single off Francisco Rodriguez, who got some much-needed work and pitched an otherwise tidy ninth.

Dickey, who rebuilt his repertoire around the knuckler after shoulder problems five years ago, even worked a four-pitch walk off reliever Joel Zumaya in the seventh and wound up scoring.

Mets center fielder Angel Pagan, who finished a homer shy of the cycle and had four RBIs the night before, was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.

There was no immediate word on his condition, but he winced during a foul ball his previous time at-bat.

The Mets won for the 21st time in 28 games and improved to 26-10 at home this season.

Reyes led off the first inning with a triple and also singled. He came around to score on David Wright's double in the third, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Jeremy Bonderman (3-5) allowed four runs and seven hits before leaving in the seventh without getting an out.

A night after the Mets routed Detroit 14-6, Wednesday night was a crisper affair, lasting just two hours, 25 minutes.

Things slowed down when the Mets scored three runs in the seventh. They might have had more, but Wright was thrown out at third trying to advance on Ike Davis' two-run single.

NOTES: The first big cheer from the spirited crowd of 35,045 came when video of Landon Donovan's winning goal in stoppage time for the United States at the World Cup was shown on the big screen in center field. ... The Mets are 11-3 in interleague games this season after going 5-10 against the AL last year. ... Pinch-hitter Jesus Feliciano got his first big league RBI when he grounded into a fielder's choice with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. ... Dickey's only major league shutout was in 2003, against the Tigers. ... Dickey left after 97 pitches.