MLB

Mets’ Dickey out to run table in last 4 starts

BREWS-ED UP:Mets catcher Josh Thole looks perturbed as Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers crosses the plate following a fourth inning solo home run in Milwaukee’s 3-0 win yesterday that handed the Amazin’s their 80th loss of the season. (AP)

MILWAUKEE — The chances are dwindling for R.A. Dickey.

He’ll get just four more starts in his quest to win 20 games for the first time in his career: four to get two. The knuckleballer is scheduled to make his second attempt at win No. 19 tonight when the Mets play host to the Phillies at Citi Field.

At the age of 37 and having never won more than 11 games in a major league season prior to this one, no one understands the urgency of the situation better than Dickey. He also has a chance to win the NL Cy Young Award based on his storybook season which includes an 18-5 record and a league-leading 2.68 ERA.

But Dickey is not sweating any of it. Not at all.

“It’s just another start on the schedule,” Dickey said as he dressed following the Mets’ 3-0 loss to the Brewers at Miller Park yesterday. “I need to do well.’’

Dickey, who enjoys the highest run support on the Mets’ staff, had just watched his teammates roll over for Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta. After scoring seven runs on Friday and six more on Saturday, the Mets managed just two singles yesterday, one an infield hit.

Mets starter Chris Young allowed a pair of long homers to Ryan Braun, his 39th and 40th of the season, and another to Aramis Ramirez in 6 ²/₃ mostly effective innings as the Mets lost for the ninth time in their last 11 games.

But tonight all eyes will turn to Dickey — or at least those few eyes that can stay open while watching the Mets.

BOX SCORE

“I don’t feel any additional anything really until you guys ask me questions about it, which is OK,” Dickey said. “I know it’s there.’’

In his last time out, Dickey took the loss against the Nationals, snapping his own three-game winning streak. He allowed three earned runs and eight hits in seven innings. He is 3-3 with a 2.94 ERA lifetime against the Phillies and earlier this season got a no-decision in a 6-5 Mets victory at Citi Field. Dickey pitched seven innings that day and allowed five runs and a career-high tying 11 hits.

Tonight he is scheduled to face Cliff Lee, who has a 5-7 record but has won his last three starts while allowing just three earned runs in his last 33 ¹/₃ innings.

“There’s no question, when R.A. pitches, our guys know they’re going to be in the game,” said Mets manager Terry Collins. “They know they’re going to have a shot. Now … he’s got Cliff Lee. He’s going against some good competition. But our guys have confidence that if they score some runs they have a chance to win.’’

Collins, who said Dickey is having the best season of any starting pitcher he ever has managed, also said “it would probably be hard” for Dickey to have a shot at the Cy Young Award without winning 20 games. Gio Gonzalez of the Nationals, who has the best record in the majors, is considered the front-runner for the award.

Twenty wins? Dickey said he will be disappointed if he doesn’t reach 22.

“I have four starts and I want to win every start that I pitch,” he said. “Just because I may or may not be in some kind of awards race doesn’t change my enthusiasm when it comes to winning.’’

Yesterday was Chris Young’s 18th start, the most he has made in a season since 2008.

“That was my goal,” he said. “I didn’t want to come back to be hurt. I haven’t had a day off since I had [shoulder] surgery [on May 16, 2011]. I’ve worked hard to be out here.

“I feel like I’m going to continue to get stronger. … I’m 15 months out of a surgery … a lot of people didn’t think I’d come back from. I think I’ve pitched pretty well, better than what my record [4-8] indicates.”

When asked if rookie Jeurys Familia is likely to get a start in the season’s final weeks, Collins had a simple answer and a very reasonable explanation.

“No,” he said, “because we like what we see [out of the bullpen].’’

Familia started 28 games for Triple-A Buffalo this season, where he went 9-9 with a 4.73 ERA and relieved just once in 110 minor-league appearances during his career. But since shifting to the bullpen after being called up on Sept. 4, Familia has not allowed a run in three of his four appearances.

Collin HcHugh pitched an inning of relief on Saturday night, but Collins said that doesn’t take him out of the mix to start Wednesday night against the Phillies. The manager said either McHugh or Jeremy Hefner, who has been working out of the bullpen lately and also pitched an inning Saturday when Collins used seven different relievers, will oppose Cole Hamels.

David Wright entered the weekend needing nine hits to tie Ed Kranepool as the Mets’ all-time hits leader. He got two hits Friday night, both doubles, to pull within seven hits of the mark, then went ice cold. After an 0-for-3 with a pair of walks and a pair of strikeouts on Saturday night, Wright went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts yesterday. His batting average has dipped to .310. the lowest it has been all season.

dburke@nypost.com