For the Mets, the struggles of every starter not named Matt Harvey have been well-documented, their rotation battered and beleaguered all year. But Dillon Gee, who has suffered as badly as anybody, pitched a gem in last night’s 3-2 win over the Pirates, deserving of a far better fate than the no-decision he got.
Gee pitched five-plus innings, allowing five hits and only one earned run, that coming after he departed the game with a 1-0 lead. Granted, he left a bases-loaded, nobody-out mess for reliever Brandon Lyon in the sixth, but on yet another night when the bats went to sleep, Gee kept the Mets in the game.
“I was pleased. I don’t think it was great or bad, it was just average. It’s going in the right direction. I felt pretty good, but obviously Lyon came in and got me out of the big jam,’’ said Gee, who said he did not have his best changeup.
“The last couple outings, to come back today and pitch the way I did, and make good pitches when I really needed to, I feel like I was a lot better than I have been, and that’s the way it needs to be shifting right now.’’
After allowing nine hits and four runs in just five innings last week in Miami, Gee came into last night with a 2-4 record and a bloated 6.16 ERA. He had coughed up four or more earned runs in four of his first six starts this season, an
d desperately needed an outing like last night’s to snap out of his malaise. “The way the game started I thought he was going to have a big night,’’ said manager Terry Collins. “His stuff was crisp. In the first two innings, boy, he made good pitches. I told Dan [Warthen, the pitching coach] he’s going to get us to the seventh inning, and I looked up in the fifth and he had 80-some pitches. Hopefully he builds on this, because he threw the ball good.’’
As has been their way lately, the Mets hung their starter out to dry with little or no run support. They had scored just 22 runs in their prior nine home games.
Gee always has been strong in spacious Citi Field. He’s been a full two runs better at home (3.32 ERA) than he’s been away (5.36) over his career, and that’s been even more marked this season with an 11.37 on the road and a 2.35 in Flushing.
Gee faced no trouble at all until two out in the third when Andrew McCutchen’s single to left center put Pirates at first and third. But Gee got Garrett Jones to fly out to left to end the threat.
In the fourth, he induced an inning-ending double-play from Brandon Inge. He did appear to tire in the sixth, surrendering singles to McCutchen and Jones before hitting Russell Martin with a pitch to load the bases.
As he walked off the mound, he received a warm ovation from the Citi Field crowd.
Lyon retired three in a row, allowing just Pedro Alvarez’s game-tying sacrifice fly that tied the game at 1-1 and closed the book on Gee.
“It’s tough. I think I was pitching on the seventh or eighth day. We’re all creatures of habit, once every five days,’’ said Gee. “But it’s something you have to deal with, get your work in and be ready.’’