By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK(AP) -- R.A. Dickey has been up and down from the minors,
bouncing from one city to another while pitching for four big
league teams over the past five years.

Imagine where the New York Mets would be without him.

Dickey took a three-hitter into the ninth inning and rookie Ike
Davis hit a three-run homer Thursday in a 4-0 win over the St.
Louis Cardinals that gave New York its first series victory in
more than a month.

"This is a special game," Dickey said. "This may be a game that
we're able to point back to later in the season as a turning
point."

Angel Pagan tripled and scored twice for the Mets, who took two
of three from St. Louis to drop the Cardinals into second place
in the NL Central, a half-game behind idle Cincinnati. New York
won for only the fifth time in 18 games but improved to 28-12 in
its past 40 at home.

Working on three days' rest, Dickey (7-4) showed no ill effects
of the sore left hip that prompted manager Jerry Manuel to pull
the knuckleballer from a scoreless game at Dodger Stadium in the
sixth inning Sunday.

Once he was deemed healthy, Dickey was moved up in the rotation
this week so the Mets could separate Johan Santana and Mike
Pelfrey, allowing 38-year-old Henry Blanco to catch both without
having to play a day game after a night game.

About 12 1/2 hours after a 13th-inning single by Albert Pujols
sent St. Louis to an 8-7 victory, Dickey went to the mound and
shut down the Cardinals in his longest outing this season and
one of the best of his career.

"We lost a heartbreaker yesterday. The propensity is to pout
about it or mope about it," Dickey said. "You really saw the
character of this team today."

The 35-year-old journeyman, a surprise savior for the Mets since
getting called up from Triple-A Buffalo, gave his team's taxed
bullpen a much-needed rest in his first win since June 23
against Detroit.

The Mets played at least 13 innings three times in the previous
eight days, losing all three.

"There's a lot of guys probably saying, `When is the horseshoe
going to drop?' And that's OK with me," Dickey said. "I feel
like I'm good enough to be here and good enough to stay here."

The right-hander received a big cheer when he batted in the
eighth. He allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus
in the ninth, then walked Jon Jay with one out.

Manuel was booed loudly when he came out of the dugout to remove
Dickey, who got a standing ovation as he trotted off the mound
after extending his scoreless streak to a career-best 17
innings.

"He does a tremendous job," Manuel said. "He right now seems to
get through the lineup two or three times relatively easy. And
that's tough to do at this level - for anybody."

Francisco Rodriguez retired Pujols on an easy fly and got Matt
Holliday on a called third strike for his 22nd save in 27
attempts, completing New York's major league-high 14th shutout.

"They didn't know that I didn't have my best knuckleball and I
wasn't going to let 'em know," Dickey said.

Dickey threw 73 of 118 pitches for strikes in a game that took 2
hours, 26 minutes. He was 0-4 in his previous six starts despite
a 2.82 ERA during that stretch.

"He did a good job keeping us off balance," Jay said. "Most
knuckleballers are slower. His is like a hard split-finger.
That's the best knuckleballer I've seen. You could tell he knew
what he wanted to do out there."

Davis also started a pair of double plays at first base and
Carlos Beltran added an RBI single. The Mets had been 0-6-1 in
series since taking two of three from Minnesota at home June
25-27.

"Right after the All-Star break we just had a little funk,"
Davis said. "We've been in every game, we're just losing by one
run every time. At home, we've been a different team."

Jose Reyes doubled leading off the third against Blake
Hawksworth (4-7) and Pagan dragged a beautiful bunt single
between the mound and first base.

After Beltran flied out to shallow center, Davis drove the next
pitch to the right of straightaway center, about three rows deep
in the bleachers, for his 15th home run.

"I'm sure he was looking for something out over the plate with
men on base," Hawksworth said. "He's got kind of a long swing,
but the changeup stayed in the middle and he crushed it. One
mistake today."

Pagan hit his seventh triple with one out in the fifth and
Beltran followed with a single that made it 4-0.

NOTES: Holliday went 0 for 4, ending his season-best hitting
streak at 13 games. ... St. Louis was shut out for the 10th
time. ... Dickey's only complete game was a six-hit shutout for
Texas against Detroit on Aug. 20, 2003. ... Mets 3B David Wright
was rested. Mike Hessman started in his place. ... New York LF
Jason Bay sat out for the third straight game with a concussion.
Manuel said if Bay still feels symptoms Friday, the team is
likely to make a roster move. ... Rain fell briefly in the late
innings on umbrella day at Citi Field.