The Mets (14-11) defeated the Marlins (11-14) by a score of 4-0 on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
Dillon Gee got the start for New York and was outstanding, throwing 8 scoreless innings of 3-hit ball while walking 4 and striking out 6.
The Mets struck first in the bottom of the second, when Tom Koehler walked Daniel Murphy and hit Chris Young to set the table for Lucas Duda. Lucas drove one to left field which bounced high into the stands for a ground-rule double, allowing Murphy to score but forcing Young to remain at 3rd.
Anthony Recker then struck out, and Ruben Tejada hit a blooper about 5 feet beyond the infield which was plucked out of the air. After Dillon Gee worked a walk to load the bases, Eric Young grounded out to end the inning, and the Mets frustratingly— but predictably— failed to capitalize on having runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.
However, the 1 run New York did score in that inning would be all they needed. Gee plowed through the next few innings, escaping a minor jam in the 4th with some help from David Wright‘s glove, and then saw his team provide him with some insurance in the 6th.
Curtis Granderson led off the 6th inning with a walk, and sped around the bases to score from first on David Wright’s double to the wall in left. Murphy grounded out to the right side, moving David to third and leaving Chris Young with the task of hitting a fairly deep fly ball to get the run in.
Chris was more than up to the challenge. After fouling off several pitches and missing a home run by a few inches on a drive down the left field line, CY hit the 11th pitch of the at-bat over the wall in left to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
The Marlins would threaten to make some noise in the 7th, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia reached first on a botched pop-up and Garrett Jones followed Salty up with a single. Gee managed to escape the inning unscathed, thanks in large part to a double play turned by Tejada and Murphy.
Gee would throw another scoreless frame in the 8th, and Carlos Torres pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to lock up the series win for New York.
Gee was great today, and, as Gary Cohen always reminds us, he has been one of the best pitchers in the league over the past calendar year. It was great to see Dillon step up and get through some tough situations in the late innings, instead of melting at the end of his outing as he had done earlier in the year. Gee ended up throwing 110 pitches, but with an extra day of rest coming due to the off day tomorrow, he should be completely fine for his next start.
I really liked what I’ve seen from Chris Young so far, both in spring training and in the 2 weeks since he’s returned from the DL. He makes good contact, he has power, he can run and he’s solid in the field. This is looking like a good pickup, so let’s hope CY can stay healthy and keep producing.
Curtis Granderson has looked better of late. He didn’t get a hit today, but he drew a walk and showed some good speed on Wright’s double. He also hit a deep drive to right field in the 7th that looked like it was going out before the wind knocked it down. If Grandy can really get going, it will be a game-changer for our lineup.
The Mets always seem to hit ground-rule doubles with runners on first, and it always ends up costing us. It happened again today… am I the only one who’s noticed this?
I feel like this series should have been a sweep the way these 3 games played out, but we also could have easily lost 2 games, so I’ll definitely take 2 out of 3. The Mets are off to a nice start, and they actually had a winning homestand for once (6-4). Let’s hope the team can keep on rolling.
Up Next: The Mets will have tomorrow off before heading to Philadelphia to begin a 9-game road trip. Jon Niese (1-2, 2.45 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets, while Cole Hamels (0-1, 3.00 ERA) will start for the Phillies.
