After Dillon Gee was lifted with a low pitch count two starts earlier, he said he had to reestablish the Mets’ trust that he could go deep into games.
Sunday’s eight shutout innings not only proved that, it underscored the fact that for nearly a year Gee has been one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Gee pitched the Mets to a 4-0 victory over Miami, putting on a masterful pitching clinic in front of 28,861 fans at Citi Field — and a lineup of befuddled Marlins. He moved the ball in and out, side to side and sent the Mets on their nine-game road trip having won six of their last eight games.
“Instead of going out and we’re up one or two runs late sort of hoping to win, we expect to win,” said David Wright, who had an RBI double and said that while Gee (2-1) may be under the radar he’s certainly not overlooked in the Mets’ clubhouse.
“Everybody wants to see guys light up the radar gun. Guys want a ton of strikeouts, want the sexiness of pitching, and I’m not sure if Dillon is that sexy of a pitcher,” Wright said. “He just goes out there and gets the job done. He’s not going to impress you with the radar gun, not going to strike a lot of guys out. What he’s going to do is induce ground balls, pound the zone and know how to pitch.”
Lucas Duda stroked an RBI double to left in the second, and Chris Young followed Wright’s fifth-inning RBI double with a two-run homer off Bronx native and Stony Brook product Tom Koehler (2-2).
“The only way you get that confidence, that swagger is from winning games,” said Young.
And it was Gee who ensured the Mets did, capping off a 6-4 homestand versus Atlanta, St. Louis and Miami and sending the Mets (14-11) a season-high three games over .500.
“He’s made a point to try and reestablish what he calls some confidence around here, and I told him everybody’s got your back. We’ve got all the confidence in the world,” said manager Terry Collins, who let Gee throw 110 pitches — his most since May 30, 2012 — scattering three hits, walking four and striking out six.
Gee had consistent movement and kept the ball down, as he has done for a while. The right-hander has had an epiphany since last May 30, his 2.75 ERA seventh-best in baseball according to Elias Sports Bureau. He said his breakthrough has been more mental than mechanical.
“It’s more just where are you mentally,” Gee said. “When you have some bad games like that first month [in 2013] it’s tough to be confident, tough to believe in yourself, tough to make the pitches when you don’t believe you’re going to make the pitches. It’s a mental change more than anything.”
Gee was so good he faced little trouble, not allowing a hit until the fourth. But he got a great over-the-shoulder sliding catch from Wright in that inning, then fanned Garrett Jones to strand two men on and end the threat. Then in the seventh — when he pointed at Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s leadoff pop-up and let it fall between Wright and catcher Anthony Recker — he showed resolve.
Gee allowed Garrett Jones’ single, but got Derek Dietrich to hit into a force play at third and Adeiny Hechavarria to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“In the past, that might happen, you go ‘woe is me what’s going to happen now.’ You’re playing the victim,” said Gee. “You can’t have that mentality out there or you won’t execute your pitches. I’m doing a better job of being in the moment.”
Carlos Torres pitched a perfect ninth.
“That [confidence] is a big difference. Last year he thought he had to trick guys if he fell behind,’’ said Recker. “Now he’s got more confidence in his fastball, which makes his offspeed that much better.”