WASHINGTON — Dillon Gee probably wouldn’t have been your first, second or third choice to lead the Mets in wins when the season began, but stuff happens.
The honor is Gee’s alone to lose, after he handled the Nationals for 7 2/3 innings last night and became the first Mets pitcher this year to reach double digits in victories. With Gee in control, the Mets squeezed out a 3-2 triumph at Nationals Park to begin their nine-game road trip.
Gee (10-9) allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts to move ahead of Matt Harvey for the team lead in victories. Harvey, who has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and could be facing Tommy John surgery, almost certainly won’t pitch again this season, and Gee leads Jon Niese and Zack Wheeler by four victories apiece for the staff lead.
Niese, Johan Santana, Shaun Marcum, Jeremy Hefner and Jenrry Mejia are among the Mets starting pitchers besides Harvey who have been on the disabled list this season.
“We’ve had some injuries this year, it’s not like I’m the only guy pitching well,” Gee said. “The whole staff is pitching very well, but [the wins lead] is nice.”
It hasn’t merely been by default Gee has jumped ahead of the pack. Last night marked the seventh time in his last nine starts he has allowed two earned runs or fewer, and his earned run average since May 30 dropped to 2.28.
Gee appeared in discomfort after getting strike two on Ian Desmond in the seventh. But after a visit from manager Terry Collins and trainer Ray Ramirez, the right-hander remained in the game. Gee later revealed it was all a ruse; he thought he had struck out Desmond and started to celebrate, but grabbed his arm when he realized the mistake.
“I felt like an idiot out there,” Gee said. “I was trying to play it off. I played it off the wrong way and then [Collins and Ramirez] came out and it was just a disaster. I don’t want to be a guy they think is showing anybody up out there, either. I just forgot.”
Collins was amused by the whole episode — and thrilled Gee wasn’t actually in pain.
“When he turned around and gave me the shoulder thing, I said, ‘Oh, no,’ ” Collins said. “Then I went out there and he said he just tried to bluff his way through, not knowing how many strikes there was. He had me.”
Gee allowed a solo homer to Steve Lombardozzi in the eighth before LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect ninth. Scott Rice got a huge out in the eighth, retiring Bryce Harper with the tying run at second base and go-ahead run at first.
The Mets scored a needed insurance run in the top of the eighth, when Andrew Brown’s infield single brought home Daniel Murphy, hustling from second base.
Ike Davis hit a two-run homer in the fourth against Jordan Zimmermann to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. The blast was Davis’ ninth of the season and fourth since his recall from Triple-A Las Vegas on July 5.
Wilson Ramos homered leading off the third to give the Nationals a 1-0 edge. Anthony Recker followed with a single, but Gee regrouped to get the next three outs and didn’t allow another hit until Ryan Zimmerman singled with two outs in the sixth.
Gee, who has pitched 166 1/3 innings this year— after missing the second half of last season because of surgery to remove a blood clot from his right arm — still has goals within his reach.
“My main goal coming into this year was make every start and try to get to 200 innings,” Gee said. “If I do that, by the end of the year, if I can finish strong, then I will feel good about the year.”