MIAMI — Somebody tell the spirit of the Splendid Splinter that David Wright is on the prowl.
The Mets third baseman only has to continue this pace for the next 4 1/2 months, and he will become the first player since Ted Williams in 1941 to hit .400 for the season. Piece of cake, right?
For now, the Mets simply are appreciative of Wright’s efforts carrying this lineup over the initial five weeks of the season. That included a 4-for-6 performance yesterday that raised Wright’s average to .402 and led the Mets to a 9-3 thrashing of the Marlins.
Wright finished with a home run, three singles and three RBIs on a day the Mets collected 16 hits and made R.A. Dickey an easy winner.
Cleon Jones, who was hitting .411 on this date in 1969, is the only other player in Mets history to be above .400 this late into the season.
Wright was asked later how it felt to have reached that plateau.
“It feels like it’s May,” he said. “There is a long way to go. Those are unrealistic goals.”
Can he hit .400 this year?
“No,” he said. “I’m going to be honest with you — no.”
Adding to his big day at the plate, Wright made a highlight-reel defensive play in the seventh by lunging to his right, stopping an Austin Kearns grounder and throwing off-balance to first base for the out.
“[Wright] is a star and he’s showing exactly how good he is,” manager Terry Collins said. “I just know one thing: He’s playing outstanding baseball.”
The Mets (19-14) rebounded from a Frank Francisco blown save the previous night to win for the sixth time in seven games and moved to 14-6 against NL East opponents.
Dickey (5-1) allowed two earned runs on nine hits over six innings and departed with the Mets leading 7-2. Dickey had remained in the game after getting drilled in the right wrist by Ricky Nolasco as part of the Mets’ three-run fifth.
Nolasco lost all control in that inning and watch the Mets seize control of the game. The right-plunked Mike Nickeas and Dickey in succession to force in a run before Andres Torres’ single scored two more and gave the Mets a 6-1 lead.
Wright, who had delivered an RBI single in the first and homered in the third, poked a run-scoring single in the ninth for the Mets’ final run.
“It makes my job a lot easier when the guys in front of me are getting on and the guys behind me are swinging the bats the way they are,” Wright said. “It’s a fun lineup to be in right now. I don’t think it’s necessarily me, I think it’s more the guys in front of me are wreaking havoc on the base paths and the guys behind me are getting me a lot of good pitches to hit.”
Wright, Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy each had at least three hits. It marked the first time the Mets’ 3-4-5 hitters got at least three hits since May 16, 2009 against the Giants, when Carlos Beltran, Gary Sheffield and Wright were the participants.
“You can’t help but notice the tear that [Wright] is on,” Dickey said. “It’s fun to watch. It’s kind of one of those situations where you can sit back and appreciate what’s happening.”