Game #77: Mets 5, Nationals 1

Now THAT is how you hold a lead.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Dillon Gee's six quality innings were backed with plenty of offense and scoreless relief as the Mets bounced back to bounce the Nationals 5-1.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee rebounded from a rough start last weekend to deliver six innings of one-run, six-hit ball, walking three and striking out four on 85 pitches. In his last six outings, beginning with his dominance of the Yankees, Gee has gone 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA, and his overall numbers have improved to 6-7 with a 4.60 ERA, down from 6.34 before the Subway Series.
• Once Dillon made his exit, the New York bullpen did what they could not do for Matt Harvey last night: put the nail in the National coffin. Carlos Torres turned in two scoreless innings and struck out three, while LaTroy Hawkins got the final three outs to secure the victory.
• Daniel Murphy and Omar Quintanilla combined for five hits and three Met runs.
• Marlon Byrd tacked on his 40th RBI of the season with a single to plate Murph in the bottom of the 6th.
• Josh Satin got on base two more times, going 1-3 with a walk off Washington rookie Taylor Jordan. He would have had another hit and an RBI in 6th but was robbed by a diving Ryan Zimmerman.
• The Mets defense turned three double plays, including a 6-4-3 to procure outs number 26 and 27.

The Bad Stuff:

• New York could have put more runs on the board, but they stranded 10 men on base.

Final Analysis:
There's the positive outcome we were looking for. There's the three components coming together at the same time. And there's a 9th win in 14 games since David Wright's players-only team meeting. Says Wright about the team's recent success? "I just think that I'm a hell of a motivator." That you are, David. That. You. Are.

MM