R.A. Dickey had more than enough to hold off the St. Louis Cardinals and become the first pitcher in the majors to reach 18 wins this season.

He didn’t have his best stuff, but still managed to strengthen his case in the NL Cy Young Award race.

Dickey was backed by Ike Davis’ three-run homer that powered the New York Mets to a 6-2 victory over the Cardinals on Wednesday.

The knuckleballer allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings en route to his 18th win, the first Mets pitcher to reach the mark since Frank Viola (20-12) and Dwight Gooden (19-7) both did it in 1990. Dickey (18-4) gave up eight hits and struck out five to help New York salvage a win to close out the three-game series.

“It was a battle for me,” Dickey said. “I didn’t really have a great feel for (the knuckleball) early on. I threw a couple of more fastballs than I ordinarily would have.

“I’m pleased with the results, but obviously I have a little bit of work to do.”

Dickey should have five more starts as he tries to become a 20-game winner, which would further bolster his Cy Young resume. Considering where Dickey was just a few years ago — in the minors trying to refine his knuckleball — Mets manager Terry Collins said it has been an incredible journey.

“The whole story of what he’s had to go through to get where he is today is truly one of the great stories of sports,” Collins said. “I’m thrilled. I hope he wins it (the Cy Young). But if he doesn’t, he’s certainly had a storybook season.”

For now, Dickey says he is focusing simply on getting win No. 19, but he can’t help think about reaching 20, too.

“Obviously, I hope for that,” Dickey said. “I hope to win beyond 20. As far as getting to that plateau, it would be really satisfying, I think.”

Davis gave the Mets a 5-1 lead with his 26th homer, and Daniel Murphy went 3-for-4 to lift his average in day games to an NL-best .351 (65 for 185). Josh Thole and Andres Torres had RBI singles, and Lucas Duda drove in the Mets’ other run with a bases-loaded walk.

The Mets did most of their damage off of Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (13-12), who allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings.

“I’d say he wasn’t as sharp as he would like to be,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “His game revolves around establishing his fastball, and he just didn’t have that tight fastball command today.”

However, Wainwright delivered the Cardinals’ first run when he led off the third inning with a home run against Dickey. It was Wainwright’s first homer of the season and the sixth in his major league career.

Former first-round pick Shelby Miller was much more effective for the Cardinals. Making his Major League debut, Miller struck out four in two innings of scoreless relief, including fanning the side in the seventh.

After Wainwright’s homer cut the Mets’ advantage to 2-1, New York stretched its lead in the fifth on Davis’ shot.

“The average isn’t going to be there,” said Davis, who is hitting just .224 this season. “I’m just trying to help the team, and when I hit a home run, that helps the team.”

Mike Baxter led off the fifth with a single and went to third one out later on Murphy’s single. They scored on Davis’ drive over the right field fence.

— Associated Press —

Jaime Garcia has always been a better pitcher at Busch Stadium than on the road. The New York Mets saw just how much better the lefty can be.

Garcia carried a shutout into the eighth inning and Yadier Molina got his 1,000th career hit with an infield single that started a three-run second against rookie Matt Harvey in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-1 victory Tuesday night.

For his career, Garcia is 18-11 with a 2.42 ERA at home, and 13-11 with a 4.59 ERA on the road. The disparity is more than three earned runs per game this year, 2.63 vs. 5.80.

“You don’t ignore trends. Statistics are what they are, it’s data,” manager Mike Matheny said. “But there’s no great explanation for it because he has good stuff.

“He has better than good stuff — he has great stuff.”

Asked twice about the comforts of home after the game, Garcia had little to offer.

“It’s part of the game sometimes,” he said. “Sometimes, you feel good at home. But I don’t know.”

Daniel Descalso and David Freese had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, who are 42-26 at home for the second-best mark in the National League. St. Louis will go for a three-game sweep Wednesday with Adam Wainwright facing 17-game winner R.A. Dickey.

The defending World Series champions have a slim lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL’s second wild card.

Descalso botched a double-play grounder in the eighth but also stole third in the sixth, putting him in position to score on John Jay’s groundout against Justin Hampson that made it 4-0.

Pinch-hitter Mike Baxter hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Lance Lynn in the eighth. Left fielder Adron Chambers, who ran for Matt Holliday in the seventh, caught Daniel Murphy’s drive at the left-field wall to end the threat and then bounced into the fence in front of the visitors’ bullpen.

“That’s that football coming out of me,” said Chambers, a former defensive back at Southern Mississippi. “I was glad I was able to make that play, give me another opportunity to see what I can do.”

Holliday left the game with lower back tightness after walking to start the seventh. The Cardinals said Holliday, among the league leaders with 92 RBIs, was day to day.

“It just tightened up,” Matheny said. “So we’ll re-evaluate tomorrow.”

Garcia (4-6) gave up an unearned run in 7 1/3 innings for his first victory in five decisions since May 16 and first in four starts since coming off the disabled list. He was sidelined for 64 games by a shoulder strain.

In two home starts since then he’s allowed one run in 15 1/3 innings while going 0-2 on the road and giving up 10 runs in 11 1/3 innings. Garcia is 2-2 at home with a 2.63 ERA this year and 2-4 with a 5.80 ERA on the road.

Molina got a prolonged ovation after barely beating David Wright’s throw on a slow roller up the third base line for his milestone hit. The Cardinals added three more singles by Freese, Skip Schumaker and Descalso to open the inning.

“He hung a couple of breaking balls up,” Mets manager Terry Collins said about Harvey. “They spray it around. They’re a good-hitting club.”

That was the only spot of trouble for Harvey, the Mets’ 2010 first-round draft pick, whose five-inning stint matched the shortest of his eight career starts. His string of four consecutive quality starts was the Mets’ best in a single season by a rookie since Jae Seo had six straight in 2003.

“I’m not happy about it,” Harvey said. “I’ve got to go out there, go deeper in the game. I’ve got to get quicker outs, keep the pitch counts down, and I didn’t do that tonight.

“I should have been better.”

Harvey (3-4) has thrown 157 1/3 innings this season, including 110 for Triple-A Buffalo, and may have only one left because the Mets don’t want to overload the 24-year-old right-hander. They have scored just 16 runs while Harvey was in the game.

Collins said the Mets haven’t made a final decision on Harvey’s workload, but added: “There’s not going to be many more.”

— Associated Press —

The St. Louis Cardinals took another step toward a playoff spot, thanks to a misstep by the New York Mets.

Andres Torres lost an apparent leadoff double in the ninth inning when he was called out for missing first base, and the Cardinals held off the Mets 5-4 Monday.

“I’ve never seen it called. Not in the big leagues like that,” Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Cardinals closer Jason Motte tied a career high by getting a five-out save. The wild card-contending Cardinals’ position improved when first base umpire Dave Rackley ruled Torres missed the bag and called him out on an appeal.

“He went over the front corner with his toe and it just kicked dirt up onto the base,” Rackley said.

Rackley said he wouldn’t make that call if he weren’t sure.

“That’s what I told Terry. I wouldn’t make that up,” Rackley said.

Crew chief Dale Scott said the umpires watched televised replays afterward and agreed the call was correct.

“It was exactly what (Rackley) described. His foot went over, the toes hit the ground, the heel never did,” Scott said. “And did you see where (Rackley) was? He was right there to make the call.”

Torres was standing on second after hitting a ball down the right-field line. Instead, he returned to the dugout.

“That’s not happened in my career,” Motte said. “It’s one out and nobody on rather than no one out and a guy on second. They can bunt him over, they have a lot of options right there.”

“It definitely changes that inning,” he said.

Torres insisted he ran the bases right.

“I just touched the base with my heel,” Torres said. “I never thought he was going to call me out, to be honest. What can I say? Nobody’s perfect.”

Collins came out to argue the play, to no avail.

“I get back to the bench, and I got 10 guys telling me he touched the bag,” Collins said.

Cardinals star Carlos Beltran, who was on the bench, told manager Mike Matheny to make the appeal.

“We’re saying our MVP is Carlos Beltran, who never hit the field,” Matheny said.

Said Beltran: “I was in the cage and watching him running. He was looking at the ball and not the bag. I saw sand coming up around the bag area and told them let’s try to throw to first.”

Rookie Joe Kelly (5-6) pitched 6 2/3 effective innings and also doubled for the Cardinals.

Kelly allowed five hits and two runs. He made his second start after a brief stint in the bullpen, and turned in his longest outing of the season.

Edward Mujica got the last out of the seventh, giving him 16 straight scoreless appearances since coming over from Miami at the trade deadline.

Skip Schumaker hit a solo homer and Matt Carpenter drove in two runs for St. Louis. Yadier Molina and Allen Craig added RBI singles and Kelly scored a run.

Daniel Murphy and Kelly Shoppach hit two-run homers for New York, which had won three straight and seven of eight.

Collin McHugh (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to make the start, lasted just four innings and gave up four runs.

“These guys fought and scratched all game and I put us in a pretty deep hole early on,” McHugh said.

McHugh blanked the Colorado Rockies for seven innings Aug. 23 in his major league debut.

It took the Cardinals just two batters to give McHugh an ERA. Jon Jay led off with a triple into the left-field corner and Carpenter followed with an RBI groundout.

The Cardinals got two more in the third and Schumaker’s first home run leading off the fourth made it 4-0.

Kelly had retired 10 batters in a row before walking Mike Baxter and then allowing Shoppach’s homer in the seventh.

New York closed within a run on Murphy’s homer off reliever Mitchell Boggs in the eighth. The Mets had the tying run at second with one out later in the inning when Motte got Scott Hairston on a soft liner and struck out Shoppach.

— Associated Press —

Stephen Strasburg returned to dominant, strike-throwing form against St. Louis after struggling in his last start. According to his manager, the All-Star ace will have two more opportunities at being “vintage Strasburg” this season.

Strasburg allowed two hits over six scoreless innings, striking out nine before being pulled Sunday as the Washington Nationals beat the Cardinals 4-3.

The NL East-leading Nationals took three of four from St. Louis and passed their 80-win total from last season.

Strasburg, rocked for seven runs last Tuesday at Miami, left with a 2-0 lead and a 2.94 ERA. He threw 97 pitches and wound up with a no-decision.

“I think he had another inning in his tank, but I didn’t want to run it up, maybe cost him a start,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. “He was outstanding. … He was vintage Strasburg today.”

The 23-year-old Strasburg has struck out a league-leading 195 in 156 1-3 innings this season. The Nationals have repeatedly stated they intend on shutting him down in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2010.

Johnson stuck with the party line after the win while providing a firmer timeline than the club has to date.

“I think two starts, unless I let him pitch 10 (innings) in the next one out, which I’m not going to do,” Johnson said. “I think his last start will be on the 12th.”

The Nationals play at the New York Mets on Sept. 12, not that Strasburg is thinking that far in advance. He is scheduled to face Miami at home on Sept. 7

“I’m just focused on the next start,” Strasburg said. “We’re going to have a sit down and talk here soon.”

The Nationals have been vague about an innings limit, but the team sat Jordan Zimmermann at 161 1-3 innings last season in a similar situation.

“When we feel that he’s had enough in and around that area of innings, and we take into account all the things we’ve talked about taking into account, stressful innings, pitches, and that type of thing, then we’ll make that decision and shut him down,” said Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, acknowledging he has yet to have that sit down with Strasburg.

“I don’t think he’s going to fight me on it, I think he’s going to be unhappy about it, I know he’ll be unhappy about it. He is an ultimate competitor, but we’ve taken that out of his hands,” he said. “We’ve made (a decision) five months ago and we’re going to stick to it.”

For his part Strasburg added, “I’m in with these guys. We still have a long way to go. I’m going to fight with them to the end.”

Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa produced two-out RBI singles in the seventh that lifted Washington. Kurt Suzuki homered and drove in two runs for the Nationals.

The Cardinals rallied in the seventh after Strasburg left with three hits against reliever Sean Burnett, including Daniel Descalso’s two-run homer.

Washington responded with four consecutive two-out singles against Lance Lynn (13-6). Desmond’s flare to center scored pinch-runner Eury Perez with the go-ahead run. Espinosa had three of the Nationals’ 13 hits.

Ryan Mattheus (2-3) pitched 1 1-3 innings, allowing a run on Tony Cruz’s RBI double in the eighth. Tyler Clippard, the worked the ninth for his 29th save.

Lynn pitched one inning, allowing two runs on four hits for the Cardinals, who have lost five of six while trying to hold off Pittsburgh for the final NL wild-card berth.

Facing the Cardinals for the first time, Strasburg gave up Matt Holliday’s two-out double in the first. The All-Star ace held St. Louis without another hit until Holliday’s sixth-inning single.

“I just settled in a little bit,” Strasburg said. “That’s just getting out there, feeling your way through the first couple of innings. When you’ve got your pitches working, it’s just attack.”

Attack he did, fanning at least two hitters in four innings and regained the NL strikeout lead by whiffing St. Louis pitcher Jake Westbrook in the fifth. Strasburg walked one overall.

“Strasburg did a great job of holding us down,” said Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay, twice a strikeout victim in three at-bats against Strasburg. “He had a good fastball and changeup. He kept us off-balance.”

Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s throwing error, a walk and a wild pitch put runners on the corners with one out in the fourth. Holliday attempted to score the game’s first run on Bryan Anderson’s shallow fly ball to right, but Bryce Harper easily threw him out at the plate for the final out.

Usually in center, Harper shifted to right with Jayson Werth scratched from the lineup minutes before the first pitch.

Suzuki, acquired in a trade with Oakland last month, stroked his third homer on the season in the bottom half. In the sixth, he tacked on a third consecutive single against Westbrook, which scored Desmond and ended Westbrook’s day.

Westbrook allowed two runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and one walk. He avoided his third loss in four starts when Descalso, the Cardinals number eight hitter, turned on a 3-1 pitch from Burnett for his fourth home run of the season.

— Associated Press —