ATLANTA — Sure, the Mets are back to .500 for the first time in nearly a month, but despite the low expectations people had for them this season, they are trying not to be impressed with such pedestrian goals.
“Well, we’re here and now we’ve got to stay here,” manager Terry Collins said after the Mets (34-34) beat the Braves, 4-0, on a rain-soaked night at Turner Field. “The accomplishment is to move above .500. It’s been a long road and an uphill battle. They’ve hung in there, but it can’t just be OK that we got here.”
It was a long road again last night, as the game was delayed at the start for one hour, 22 minutes and then for another one hour and 11 minutes after the fourth, with hail mixing with rain.
Dillon Gee did what he could, pitching four shutout innings before leaving and then watching the team’s beleaguered bullpen throw five scoreless innings.
Gee was vying to improve to 8-0 on the season and join Dwight Gooden and Pat Mahomes for the mark. Terry Leach started 10-0 in 1987.
That will have to wait, but the Mets will take the win.
D.J. Carrasco, recently called up from Triple-A Buffalo, pitched a pair of shutout innings for the Mets.
The right-hander, who began the season in the Mets’ bullpen, had been working as a starter in his stint in the minors and pitched well in his final two outings, giving up one run in 15 2/3 innings for the Bisons. That continued last night before Bobby Parnell entered in the seventh and struck out five over the next two innings as the bullpen regained its form –at least for a night.
Parnell (1-1) earned the win, striking out five in his two innings and Francisco Rodriguez closed it with a perfect ninth.
Parnell has struggled, but not last night.
“He had a plus fastball in the strike zone,” Collins said. “That’s what got him here and kept him here last year. That’s what makes him special. In the beginning of the year, he fell behind in counts wand wasn’t throwing the ball that hard, either.”
The pitching was helped by an offense that scored at least four runs for the sixth time in the last eight games.
The sizzling Jose Reyes led off the game — surprise — with a double to right, over Jason Heyward’s head. When Heyward’s throw toward the infield went to no one in particular, Reyes advanced to third.
The error proved costly, as Ruben Tejada quickly followed with a groundout to shortstop to drive in Reyes and give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
The Mets extended their lead to 3-0 when Angel Pagan sent a Tim Hudson pitch down the right field line that somehow stayed fair for his second homer of the season, a two-run shot.
The Mets added another run in the seventh with an RBI groundout by Reyes after loading the bases.
Now the Mets hope this stay at .500 lasts longer than their previous one.
They followed a 2-1 win over the Yankees that got them to 22-22 on May 20 with six losses in their next seven games.
“This is ultimately a steppingstone and not the end goal,” said Bay, who had two hits. “We’ve been at this point before and kind of slipped back. We still got to get above it.”
That’s the challenge that awaits tonight.