MLB

Dickey offers no relief for Mets

That’s not the kind of relief the Mets were looking for.

Trailing the Dodgers 6-5 heading into the ninth inning Saturday, Mets manager Terry Collins made an unusual call to the bullpen, summoning All-Star starting pitcher R.A. Dickey to try and keep the team within a run.

In his first relief appearance since April 17, 2011, Dickey gave up a two-run homer to Juan Uribe to open a three-run Dodgers lead in the Mets’ 8-5 loss.

Dickey, unaccustomed to the reliever position after having such a successful season starting, said though he felt no added pressure, the task of having to come in for a single inning was difficult to adapt to.

“This game is tough, you feel pressure on you every time you go out there regardless of who is hurt or how the team is playing,” a frustrated Dickey said after the game. “There’s different emotions, different feelings — it’s not the same. I mean, sure, you get to exercise your arm but it’s a little different.”

BOX SCORE

Collins acknowledged it was his plan all along to bring in Dickey at some point to get him work on his between-starts throw day. Had the game been tied heading into the ninth, Collins adamantly stated he still would have used Dickey.

Dickey started the inning well, getting Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier on quick groundouts. But James Loney followed with a single to center and Uribe crushed one into the left-field seats.

Dickey, who will look to rebound in Tuesday’s start against the Nationals, said he thought he threw some good pitches, but wanted his pitch to Uribe back.

“It was just a knuckleball that stayed up and he hit it,” Dickey said. “It was probably the only poor one I threw all inning.”

Collins praised his knuckleballer — who is all the more important to the Mets’ hopes after Johan Santana was placed on the disabled list with a sprained right ankle Saturday — in the aftermath of the ninth-inning debacle.

“I salute him for going in there,” Collins said. “It’s certainly something he’s not used to doing. That’s the kind of guy he is: ‘Need me there, I’ll be there.’ ”