Dillon Gee came into last night’s start against the Phillies with a 7.71 lifetime ERA against Philadelphia, including a 9.56 mark at Citizen Banks Park. His last outing against the Phillies, he gave up 5 ER in 6.2 IP, with 2 HR. For a pitcher who was scuffling coming into the game anyway, this start had disaster written all over it. So, it was especially nice to see him allow just 1 ER over 7 IP. This start hopefully marks a turning point in his season.

In his previous four games, Gee managed just 22.1 IP, a 6.85 ERA and an 0-3 record. The Mets dropped all four games in this stretch. For the season, Gee had been outpitching his peripherals and this looked like regression coming on with a vengeance. Even after this poor four-game stretch, Gee still has a FIP (4.48) nearly a full run lower than his ERA (3.54).

The combination of a low BABIP (.230) and a high LOB% (78.4) shows the reasons for Gee’s good ERA this year. Last night was a continuation of that theme. He allowed just two non-HR hits and he stranded all five runners to reach base.

Gee has typically pitched better than his peripherals but this year he’s taken it to a different level. The Mets will have to determine if Gee is likely to pitch to a 3.54 ERA going forward. With SP like Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz nearly ready for MLB action, the Mets will have to determine if they’re better off turning to the kids or if a veteran hurler like Gee or Jonathon Niese makes more sense for their future rotations.

COLLINS MANAGES GAME LIKE A NORMAL PERSON – Last night’s game went 11 innings and even with one reliever unavailable, the Mets were not on the edge of running out of pitchers because Terry Collins ran a sensible bullpen. He used four relievers and each one pitched a full inning. There was none of his usual matchup masturbation and the results were just fine. His four relievers had eight PA without the platoon advantage and in those they combined to allow just two singles. The horror of righty relievers facing lefties and lefty relievers facing righties resulted in a .250/.250/.250 line for a .500 OPS against. And one of those singles did not leave the infield. There’s a lesson in here somewhere.



WRIGHT CONTINUES ODD HITTING STREAK – In the top of the 11th inning last night, David Wright delivered a single to center field, extending his hitting streak to eight games. What’s odd about this streak is that he has just nine hits and only one for extra-bases. It all adds up to a slash line of .273/.314/.303 in 35 PA. How often does a player of Wright’s stature, in the middle of a down season, rip off an eight-game hitting streak and see his OPS go down? Before the streak started, Wright had a .722 OPS and now he sits with a .714 mark.

DUDA DELIVERS VERSUS PHILLY LEFTIES – This looked like a bad weekend for Lucas Duda, who has struggled mightily versus lefty pitching this year. Not only does Philadelphia have four lefties in its bullpen, it also has Cole Hamels in the rotation, one of the top southpaws in the league. Additionally, Duda came into the game just 1-15 since the All-Star break versus LHP. So, in the first two games against the Phillies, Duda goes 3-7 versus lefties, including the game-winning RBI in the 11th inning Saturday night.



METS’ HOMEGROWN PEN TAKING SHAPE – Last night with 24-year-old Jenrry Mejia unable to close, 24-year-old Jeurys Familia came on to get the save. The game also featured 27-year old Josh Edgin. It’s very possible that next year’s pen will feature five players who’ve only played in the Mets’ organization and six aged 30 or younger. Carlos Torres might be the old man at age 32. Torres and Vic Black might be the only guys not signed and developed by the Mets, with Black having just three appearances in the majors for another team.



ONE-RUN MAGIC CONTINUES – With back-to-back one-run wins against the Phillies, the Mets have won eight of their last 10 one-run games. This brings their record in these contests to 18-22 for the year. It’s a vast improvement over the 8-17 mark they held earlier this season. The Mets and Phillies have played 14 games so far this season and eight have them have been decided by a single run. The Mets are 5-3 in those games, this despite losing the first two one-run games of the season against their division rival.

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