R.A Dickey- A Job Well Done

R.A. Dickey was sharp in his spring debut and Luis Castillo singled in a run, but the Cardinals' staff held the Mets scoreless after the second inning and Gerald Laird drove in the winning run for a 3-2 St. Louis victory at Roger Dean Stadium on Wednesday.Dickey, hoping to follow up his breakout 2010 with another strong season, breezed through his first two innings before finding a little bit of trouble in the third. He wound up allowing a run on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk. He permitted two doubles, but neither was hit especially deep.Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook allowed a lot of contact and paid for it, allowing two runs on five hits through two innings. He was victimized by a bloop single and a comebacker that both he and second baseman Ramon Vazquez had a chance to field.

Ruben Tejada drove in the first New York run with that ground ball up the middle in the second, and Castillo made it 2-0 when he dropped a single into shallow right field. Castillo is one of several candidates for the Mets' second-base job, and every base hit can only help his cause.

Jon Jay's double to shallow left field drove in Vazquez for the only St. Louis run against Dickey. Lance Lynn impressed for the homestanding Redbirds, pitching three shutout innings with two strikeouts, allowing a hit and no walks. Lynn is one of the leading contenders for the Cards' vacant fifth-starter job.Matt Carpenter doubled home Allen Craig to tie the game in the sixth inning, and Laird's sacrifice fly brought in Tyler Greene with the winning run in the seventh. Both runs scored against Mets reliever Josh Stinson.

Up next: After a court date in New York City postponed his Grapefruit League debut earlier this week, Francisco Rodriguez will make his first spring appearance for the Mets in a 1:10 p.m. ET home game Thursday against a Cardinals split squad. Rodriguez has not appeared in a game since tearing a ligament in his right thumb during an off-field incident last August. Scheduled to start for the Mets is Oliver Perez, whose odds of making the team grew longer after he gave up four runs in two innings last weekend against the Braves. (Mets.com)