ATLANTA — No do-overs allowed, but Dillon Gee likely would embrace the opportunity to extend this season for several weeks if it meant a chance to expunge April and May from his record.
Over the last three-plus months you can count on one hand the number of NL pitchers who have been as consistent as Gee — better known as the rock of the Mets’ rotation with Matt Harvey sidelined.
The right-hander yesterday helped the Mets bid good riddance to the Braves for 2013 in style, with a four-hitter over seven innings that led to a 5-2 victory at Turner Field.
Gee (11-9) surrendered one run, making it six starts in his last seven he’s allowed two earned runs or fewer. Andrew Brown and Lucas Duda each homered as part of a 12-hit attack that helped the Mets snap a three-game losing streak and avoid getting swept.
Gee was 2-6 with a 6.34 ERA after losing to the Braves on May 25, but since then has been better than the Mets could have hoped. With yesterday’s performance, Gee has a 2.40 ERA since May 30, which ranks seventh in the major leagues over that stretch.
Along with the success has come job security for the 27-year-old Gee, who was a candidate to be bumped from the rotation earlier in the year.
“I was never the highly touted guy that when you came up you knew you had a spot,” Gee said. “When I came up in 2011, when I got recalled, I was pretty much pitching every start as start-to-start. Pretty much every time I pitched I had my bags packed ready to go back to Triple-A, and I ended up staying, so I’m used to it. I actually kind of feed off it a little bit.”
Gee missed the second half of last season after a blood clot was found in his right shoulder, requiring surgery, and then battled elbow tendinitis for much of the spring. Manager Terry Collins is certain both ailments contributed to Gee’s slow start this year, as he couldn’t find his control.
“One thing he’s done, he hasn’t walked hardly anybody,” Collins said. “Early in the year we had conversations where we were talking about [how] it was uncharacteristic to walk two or three guys or four guys, and he’s not doing that.”
But Gee won’t use the injuries as an excuse for his early struggles.
“I don’t want to blame it on anything other than I just wasn’t prepared,” Gee said. “I was not throwing like I normally do. It could be because of so much time off and trying to figure it back out again. I’m glad that I was able to turn it around.”
Vic Black surrendered a solo homer to Freddie “Boom Boom” Freeman in the eighth before LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless ninth for his seventh save in 10 chances.
Gee allowed a run in the fifth on a B.J. Upton sacrifice fly, following singles by Dan Uggla and Paul Janish, but cruised through the ensuing two innings.
Brown’s sixth homer of the season, a two-run blast in the first inning against Kameron Loe (1-3), gave the Mets an early lead. The Mets seized control with three additional runs in the third.
Duda homered leading off the inning before Juan Lagares hit into an RBI fielder’s choice, following singles by Justin Turner and Travis d’Arnaud. Gee’s RBI single completed the scoring in the inning and gave the Mets a 5-0 lead.
The rest was up to Gee, who improved to 4-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 11 career starts against the Braves.
“You have surprises every year, and I’m not saying he’s a surprise, but I expect big things from Dillon,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said. “He’s a great No. 4 starter on a staff, and he’s pitched better than that even.”