Game #58: Mets 5, Braves 0

Jose Reyes hit a three-run triple in the seventh inning. (NYTimes.com)

One day after fans rallied on the Citi Field bridge in his support, Jose Reyes came through to deliver a well-deserved win.

Reyes' bases-clearing triple highlighted a 5-run 7th inning to back Dillon Gee's 7 scoreless innings and give the Mets the game, 5-0 over the Braves.

The Good Stuff:

• After Jair Jurrjens shut them down for 6 innings, the Mets finally got going in the 7th. Jason Bay reached on an error and Josh Thole hit a double to right to put runners on second and third. After Ruben Tejada was hit, Jason Pridie came up as a pinch hitter, splintering hit bat but launching the ball into right to score Bay and put the Mets up 1-0. Up came Jose Reyes, who scared the Braves into taking out Jurrjens in favor of a fresher arm. Wrong decision: on an 0-1 curveball, Reyes lashed a triple to the right field corner, clearing the bases and all but guaranteeing a Mets win. He scored a minute later on Justin Turner's sac fly.
• His most recent hot rod moment gives Jose 10 triples on the year, far and away the league lead. But what really stands out is that he's hit every single one at home. The Mets' record for home triples in a season is 12; Reyes will probably break that before the All-Star Break. And you think he's not worth big money, Mr. Unspeakable Owner? Maybe not Carl Crawford money, but not even Carl Crawford was worth Carl Crawford money. At 27, Jose Reyes is just entering his prime. The Mets should make it their #1 priority to keep him in Flushing at all costs. For what he brings to this ball club, he's worth it.
• The outburst in the 7th brings vindication to Dillon Gee, who became the first Met rookie to start a season 6-0. Battling another hot rookie starter, Gee scattered 4 hits and 2 walks across 7 innings, striking out 2 along the way. He got out of a big jam in the 5th: with 2 out and runners in scoring position, Gee won an epic 9-pitch battle with Martin Prado, getting him to ground out to Reyes to end the Braves' biggest threat.
• Not even this bullpen could screw up a 5-0 advantage. Pedro Beato got 4 big outs, and Tim Byrdak took care of the rest to send the crowd of 28,114 home happy.

The Bad Stuff:

• The only Bad Stuff is that every game can't be like this.

Final Analysis:
Wins Like They Oughtta Be! Just about everything went right tonight: unhittable pitching, clutch hitting, no mistakes.

Now we've got some momentum going into tomorrow's nationally televised game. ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball has been kind to the Mets recently; the last time we were on we beat the Phillies in a 14-inning thriller. Of course, no one remembers the game as much as the "USA! USA!" in the 9th. But the New York Mets were on that night, so it has a chance to be a great day for Queens, and a great day for America.

MM