R.A. Dickey and Gio Gonzalez move up their franchise single season win lists

Pitching for the less than mediocre Mets, R.A. Dickey last night became the first pitcher in the majors to reach 18 wins this season defeating the Cardinals, 6-2. Dickey (18-4) is the first Mets pitcher to reach the mark since Frank Viola (20-12) and Dwight Gooden (19-7) both did it in 1990.

Here are the top winners for the Mets:

Rk	Player	W	Year	GS	CG	SHO	L	W-L%	ERA
1	Tom Seaver	25	1969	35	18	5	7	.781	2.21
2	Dwight Gooden	24	1985	35	16	8	4	.857	1.53
3	Tom Seaver	22	1975	36	15	5	9	.710	2.38
4	Jerry Koosman	21	1976	32	17	3	10	.677	2.69
5	Tom Seaver	21	1972	35	13	3	12	.636	2.92
6	Frank Viola	20	1990	35	7	3	12	.625	2.67
7	David Cone	20	1988	28	8	4	3	.870	2.22
8	Tom Seaver	20	1971	35	21	4	10	.667	1.76
9	Dwight Gooden	19	1990	34	2	1	7	.731	3.83
10	Tom Seaver	19	1973	36	18	3	10	.655	2.08
11	Jerry Koosman	19	1968	34	17	7	12	.613	2.08
12	R.A. Dickey	18	2012	28	5	3	4	.818	2.64
13	Dwight Gooden	18	1988	34	10	3	9	.667	3.19
14	Bob Ojeda	18	1986	30	7	2	5	.783	2.57
15	Tom Seaver	18	1970	36	19	2	12	.600	2.82

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 9/6/2012.

The Washington/Montreal franchise had not had an 18-game winner since Bryn Smith in 1985 (treat yourself to a beer if you knew that!), until Gio Gonzalez (18-7) won later last night for the Nationals.

Here are the top winners for Les Nats:

Rk	Player	W	Year	Tm	GS	CG	SHO	L	W-L%	ERA
1	Ross Grimsley	20	1978	MON	36	19	3	11	.645	3.05
2	Steve Rogers	19	1982	MON	35	14	4	8	.704	2.40
3	Gio Gonzalez	18	2012	WSN	28	2	1	7	.720	2.98
4	Bryn Smith	18	1985	MON	32	4	2	5	.783	2.91
5	Carl Morton	18	1970	MON	37	10	4	11	.621	3.60
6	Pedro Martinez	17	1997	MON	31	13	4	8	.680	1.90
7	Steve Rogers	17	1983	MON	36	13	5	12	.586	3.23
8	Bill Gullickson	17	1983	MON	34	10	1	12	.586	3.75
9	Steve Rogers	17	1977	MON	40	17	4	16	.515	3.10
10	Bill Stoneman	17	1971	MON	39	20	3	16	.515	3.15

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/6/2012.

While both pitchers have 18 wins, they have reached that number in very different ways. The best way to show that is by going to the heat maps to compare their release velocity. Trust me, this is not wonky, just fun.

The Gio Gonzalez release velocity heat map

This is more than pretty colors suitable for a tie dye t-shirt.

Here's Gio's release veocity skeleton behind the heat map

Now, take a look at R.A. Dickey's release velocity heat map (aka "Blue Velvet")

Like Picasso, this is Dickey's blue period.

Here's R.A.'s release veocity skeleton behind his cool map

Dickey and Gonzalez each should have five more starts.