Dillon Gee's shutout and win were lost with one swing of Freddie Freeman's bat, as the Braves knocked off the Mets in the wee hours of the morning, 2-1.
The Bad Stuff:
- Gee started the 9th inning off right by getting Jason Heyward to ground out to second. And that was all she wrote for Gee, whose next eight pitches resulted in a Justin Upton single and Freddie Freeman home run. Just like that, a 1-0 nailbiter became a disappointing 2-1 decision.
- It shouldn't have come down to that walk-off, but New York managed only seven hits off Tim Hudson and the Atlanta bullpen, going 1-6 with RISP and stranding eight.
- Despite not getting the final two outs, Gee was phenomenal on the mound, allowing three hits in the previous eight shutout innings with one walk and six strikeouts. At the very least, he registered his first complete game of the season.
- Dillon's bat also came up big in the 7th, as he poked a single through the left side of the infield to plate John Buck and get the Mets on the board.
- Lucas Duda went 4-4 with a double, collecting more than half the team's hits on the late night.
Wins and losses are moot at this point, so let's talk about Dillon Gee, who has finally settled back into good form. Did you know he's 3-1 with a 1.53 ERA in his last four starts? Or that he's struck out 32 and walked a mere four batters in 29.1 innings over those starts? Or that all four of those outings came against legitimate contenders (Yankees, Nationals, Cardinals, Braves) instead of cupcakes?
Suffice it to say, Dillon Gee is back, and he looks unlikely to lose his spot in the rotation. With Zack Wheeler primed to eventually replace Shaun Marcum in the rotation, the Mets finally have one piece of the puzzle completed in that they have a starting rotation that will keep them in the game much more often than not. The offense being able to reward the starters' efforts with wins, however, is an entirely different situation...
MM
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