R.A. Dickey allowed four runs after removing his friendship bracelets – coincidence?

It's a known rule in baseball that pitchers are not allowed to wear any distracting jewelry on their arms -- and R.A. Dickey was caught red-wristed on Wednesday. 

During the second inning, umpire Jim Joyce approached the mound and asked the Cy Young candidate to remove two friendship bracelets from his left wrist.  Although the bracelets were a similar color to his mitt, Dickey understood he must abide by the rules.

"In the moment, I was a little bit angry because those were a couple of bracelets my girls had made me," said Dickey,    who had been wearing the bracelets since January. "Nonetheless, I guess it is a rule and I had to follow it."

The Mets' ace went on to give up four runs after cutting off the bracelets, including two home runs by Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce.

Can R.A. continue to succeed without his trusty wrist wear? Ah, baseball superstitions.

-- Matt Monagan / MLB.com