Mets" Dickey Strikes Out 11 and Bullpen Holds Its Ground Nickeas, who said catching Dickey's knuckleball was the most stressful thing he has to do in baseball, unfurled a stream of superlatives to describe the pitch Dickey displayed Tuesday night: "ridiculous," "outstanding," and "really good," among others. "It's the best I've ever seen in a game," Nickeas said. That's tough to catch. Dickey worked swiftly through the Pirates" order with his knuckleball wiggling devastatingly through the strike zone. He allowed five hits and struck out 11 - a career high - and did not issue a walk in seven innings. He threw 88 pitches, 67 strikes. Dickey said that he felt as if he had three different varieties of the pitch and that he was able to manipulate its movement in the strike zone. "I felt like I had a really good one, and I had a couple of different kinds of knuckleballs, which was really, really fun," Dickey said. I am always in the state of becoming, always hoping to get better, and I think tonight I grew a little bit. Despite Dickey's brilliance, the Mets still had to endure a tense game. Their offense has struggled lately, and Tuesday was no different. With that in mind, Dickey was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning with the score tied, 1-1. Manager Terry Collins said he was looking for a rally, but added that he had a discussion with the pitching coach Dan Warthen about leaving Dickey in the game to hit: "I said, "The way we're swinging the bats, I'm not sure we're any worse having him lead the inning off." " Indeed, Andres Torres, who pinch-hit for Dickey, struck out. But Mike Baxter doubled against Juan Cruz, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a walk. David Wright struck out, but Lucas Duda ripped a single through the right side of the Pirates" infield, scoring Baxter. Then Pedro Alvarez bobbled Daniel Murphy's grounder to third base, allowing Nieuwenhuis to cruise home and give the Mets a 3-1 lead. The Mets" offense looked more feeble than usual because Wright went 0 for 4, lowering his average to .403 "David's certainly carried his share of the load thus far, and we've got to help him out," Collins said. Some other guys have got to start getting some hits. Tonight, Lucas got a big hit, which is good to see. Dickey, who was given a one-run lead in the second through Nickeas's run-scoring hit, held off the Pirates, working around one-out doubles by the Pirates in the first and fifth innings. But he could not do the same in the sixth. He allowed a one-out triple to Josh Harrison, who scored easily when Andrew McCutchen lofted a fly ball to right field to tie the score at 1-1. The Mets" unearned run in the eighth proved vital because the Pirates cut the deficit to one run in the bottom of the inning against Jon Rauch, part of a bullpen that entered the game with a 5.11 E.R.A. But Tim Byrdak entered to get the final out of the eighth before Frank Francisco pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save. Francisco, who has struggled this season, said his second consecutive save was not any more meaningful than usual, even considering his rough start. "It wasn't the first time that it happened to me," he said of his poor form, "and I know it's not going to be the last time." The Mets" bullpen has faced unusual pressure, Collins said, because the offense has struggled. The most visible disappointment has been Ike Davis, who went 0 for 4 Tuesday as his average dropped to .156. Davis, who entered Monday's game as a defensive replacement and struck out twice, flied out weakly twice and struck out twice, both times looking at backdoor breaking balls. But Davis has not been the only culprit. Torres was benched Tuesday, with Collins saying he needed to try something new to kick-start the team's offense. Nieuwenhuis played center field and Baxter was the team's leadoff batter. Torres's strikeout in the eighth was his 11th in his last 34 at-bats, a span during which he has had just one hit. His average dropped to .187. Until Davis, Torres and their teammates get going, the Mets will have to eke out wins the way they did Tuesday night.