MLB

R.A. pitches, bats Mets to another home victory

When Francisco Rodriguez uncorked a wild pitch that sent runners to second and third and Hanley Ramirez at the plate in the ninth, Mets starter R.A. Dickey admitted to being nervous.

“I was biting my nails,” Dickey said. “Not my knuckleball nails, the other hand.”

Rodriguez eventually got Ramirez on a slow grounder to third to close out the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Marlins last night at Citi Field.

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As for Dickey, the Mets are relying on the 35-year-old like they never thought they would and the knuckleballer delivered again. He gave up three runs over 6 1⁄3 innings to improve to 3-0 and has lasted at least six innings in each of his four starts since being called up last month.

“Sometimes with knuckleballers, they just get in a groove,” Jeff Francoeur said.

Dickey clearly is in one now, both on the mound and at the plate, where last night he added a pair of hits, driving in the Mets’ first run and scoring their second.

But Dickey wouldn’t have gotten the win without a huge assist from Elmer Dessens, another recent call-up the Mets are counting on. Manager Jerry Manuel brought in Dessens with runners on first and third in the seventh and Ramirez at the plate.

Dessens got Ramirez to pop out to Ike Davis in foul territory with a slider.

“That was huge,” Dickey said. “Sometimes you go through stretches getting big outs and you change it up in hopes of finding that guy. He’s seizing that moment.”

Dessens also pitched a scoreless eighth, something that hasn’t happened often for the Mets this season.

Rodriguez, who coughed up a ninth-inning lead in San Diego on Wednesday before the Mets lost in extra innings, made things dicey again in the ninth this time.

“I think those easy saves will come,” Rod Barajas said.

They haven’t yet. The Mets’ closer retired the first two batters, but then surrendered a single and a walk on a 3-2 pitch to Gaby Sanchez before getting Ramirez to earn his 11th save.

“I’ve gotta be more aggressive to get the final out as quick as possible,” said Rodriguez, who added that he was happy to get on the mound after Wednesday’s loss. “That’s the only way you can get over it.”

Francoeur had another theory: “I think he just wanted to get to Hanley to make it interesting.”

The dramatics are something Manuel has gotten used to.

“Frankie knows what he’s doing,” Manuel said. “Sometimes he walks a tightrope, but he’s a guy with a lot of confidence in his pitches. We work our strategy to get the ball to him. That’s our whole game plan.”

It worked last night, as the Mets snapped a six-game losing streak against the Marlins and won their sixth in a row at home, improving to 20-9 overall at Citi Field as they try to compensate for their woes on the road, where they are 8-18.

The strong pitching from Dickey and the bullpen helped the Mets overcome an early 3-0 deficit that was a result of some sloppy defense.

After falling behind, they rallied for a pair of runs in the third. Ruben Tejada, called up earlier in the day to replace Luis Castillo at second base, doubled and was driven home on and then an RBI single by Dickey. Jason Bay added an RBI double to score Dickey to make it 3-2.

The Mets took the lead in the sixth. Francoeur’s RBI single tied the game and Tejada drove in Barajas with a fielder’s choice to short.

The bullpen took care of the rest and allowed Dickey to give the Mets another much-needed win.

dan.martin@nypost.com