It’s a scene the Mets have become all too familiar with.
They fall out of playoff contention in the second half and are left with trying to find other accomplishments.
A year ago, it was Jose Reyes and the batting title. This season, it could be R.A. Dickey’s pursuit of 20 wins and a Cy Young Award.
The knuckleballer took another step toward making that a reality yesterday, tossing his fourth complete game of the year in a 6-1 win over Reyes and the Marlins, helping the Mets avoid a sweep and win their first game at Citi Field since July 7 — a skid of nine straight home losses.
But Dickey insists he doesn’t want any special treatment — say, pitching on short rest — to reach either milestone.
“Awards, number of games won, that needs to be an organic thing,” Dickey said after improving to 15-3 by striking out 10 and walking none. “I would not want to [pitch] on three days’ rest purely to win 20 games. If we can crawl back in this thing and they think I give our team a good chance to win, I’m willing to do that. [But] I don’t think that’s the right way to [get the Cy Young].”
Dickey was aided by some unlikely sources in the victory, with Andres Torres contributing three RBIs and falling a single short of the cycle, while Josh Thole drove in two more. Miami starter Josh Johnson dropped to 7-8.
Mets manager Terry Collins said yesterday he is no longer considering using Dickey on short rest out of fear for the right-hander’s health.
“If we were in the hunt, it might be really different,” Collins said. “I’m not comfortable with it at the moment.”
But he admitted he would look at it again if the situation dictated.
“He doesn’t want to look like we’re running him out there to win the Cy Young,” Collins said. “But will I? I certainly might, yes. I think he deserves that shot. I thought Jose Reyes deserved to win the batting title last year, too. I got criticized for that. I’m gonna get criticized for this.”
Reyes removed himself from the final game of the year after bunting for a hit in his first at-bat. He ended up holding off Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, but took heat from some for not finishing the game.
Yesterday, Reyes had his 26-game hitting streak snapped by his former teammate.
“It is unbelievable,” Reyes said. “He is very tough. But now he is throwing a lot of strikes. It’s tough to put a good swing on that knuckleball because he throws one soft, one hard. It’s… good to see because Dickey, he is a great guy and he deserves the success that he has.”
Collins stood up for Reyes after the shortstop was booed nearly every time he factored into any of the three games — except when he lost David Wright’s pop up to short left in the sun yesterday for a double.
“We have no ill feelings toward Jose Reyes,” Collins said. “This guy played his heart out for us, especially for me.”
Seeing Reyes knocked last year will not impact how Dickey handles the rest of the season.
“That never [crept] in,” Dickey said of his thinking as he prepares for the final weeks of the year.
He was just happy to end the Mets’ nine-game skid in Queens.
“Getting that streak stopped is more important than the 15th win,” Dickey said.
dan.martin@nypost.com