Mets Recap: Gee Whiz!

Brad Penner/USA Today

Dillon Gee strikes out six and gives up only three base hits as the New York Mets win the rubber game against the Miami Marlins in shutout fashion, winning 4-0 to improve to three games above .500.

Gee pitched eight innings, getting into trouble only in the fourth and seventh innings.  In the fourth inning, Gee gave up a single to Marcell Ozuna, the Marlins first hit of the game.  He'd be out at second on a fielder's choice, putting Giancarlo Stanton on first.  He'd go to second on Jarrod Saltalamacchia's walk, but Gee was able to get out of trouble as Garrett Jones would strike out to end the inning.

In the seventh inning, Gee gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning, by Saltalamacchia and Jones.  He was able to get Derek Dietrich to hit a grounder that went a couple of feet away from Anthony Recker.  Recker opted to go to third to retire Saltalamacchia.  Gee was able to get out of the inning unscathed when Adieny Hechavaria hit into a 6-4-3 double play. 

Carlos Torres came in to relieve Gee for the 9th inning, and was able to get a 1-2-3 inning to preserve the Mets 14th win of the season.  

Tom Koehler took the loss for the Marlins, going five innings in which he gave up five hits and four walks, which led to four runs, all earned.  In the second inning, Koehler got into trouble as he gave up a lead-off walk to Daniel Murphy, and then plunked Chris Young to set up 1st and 2nd with nobody out.  Lucas Duda would bring home Murphy with his ground-rule double.

In the fifth inning, Curtis Granderson led off with a walk.  He was brought home by David Wright.  Wright would be brought home with Chris Young's second home run of the season, giving the Mets a 4-0 cushion that they'd not relinquish.

The Mets are off on Monday as they prepare for a three-city road trip that begins with their first look at the Phillies on Tuesday down at Citizens Bank Park down in Philadelphia.  In the first of a short two game series, Jonathan Niese will oppose Cole Hamels. Hamels lost his debut last week, giving up two runs in six innings of work as the Phillies lost against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  First pitch is at 7:05 p.m..

THE INNING ENDER: It was a tough game for Eric Young.  After leading off the game with a fly-out to right, Eric Young found himself the third out in the second, fourth and sixth innings.  In those three inning-ending plays, Young managed to strand five on the bases.  

AMERICAN LEAGUE, PLEASE?  The Mets at this moment probably wish they were in the American League, where their pitchers wouldn't have to bat.  After today's game, the pitchers are hitless, going 0 for 40.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the next time they will travel to an American League ballpark is in mid-May when they face the New York Yankees for the split four game Subway Series. 

Mets Recap: Mejia Falls Apart

It only took three pitches.

Jenrry Mejia had surrendered 6 straight batters, but everything came apart in the 6th inning as his first three pitches were hit for the following:

• 1 - Marcell Ozuna hit to left field for a double.
• 2 - Giancarlo Stanton hit his first pitch deep to right for a home run, scoring both himself and Ozuna
• 3 - Casey McGehee hit to center field for a single.

After that, Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked, bringing an end to Mejia's day.  In the dugout, he watched as Carlos Torres surrendered a double to pinch hitter Reed Johnson to plate two more to give the Marlins a 6-5 lead.

The Mets were able to take advantage of good fortune when Omar Quintanilla was able to bring Travis d'Arnaud home, with the help of the Marlins defense that threw the ball away to bring home the tying run in the bottom of the 6th.

After a quiet 7th, 8th and 9th innings, Kyle Farnsworth was unable to retire the first batter he faced in the 10th inning, as Saltalamacchia added salt to the wound with his home run that gave the Marlins the lead for good. 

The Mets were able to coax a base runner in the form of a David Wright walk in the bottom of the 10th, but Daniel Murphy struck out on a disputed called strike three, which quickly got him tossed from the game.  And Bobby Abreu, who brought home two runs in the 1st inning with his long ball, lined out to a leaping Adeiny Hechavarria to end the ballgame.

The Mets will try once again to win their 5th series of the young season when the two teams meet in the Sunday finale.  First pitch is at 1:10PM.

Mets Recap: Mets take three of four from Cards.

The Mets take three of four against the St. Louis Cardinals as they win the series finale 4-1.

It started as a pitching duel, as Bartolo Colon and Lance Lynn retired the first 6 batters each pitcher faced.  The Mets picked up their first hit of the game in the bottom of the 3rd as Ruben Tejada became the first base runner.  The Cardinals would get their first base runner in the 4th inning as Jon Jay singled to left field.

The Cardinals would get on the board first when Tony Cruz brought home Kolten Wong with his double to center field.  Colon would create a tougher situation for himself when a fielding error put Lance Lynn on first and Cruz on 3rd, but got out of trouble when he got Matt Carpenter to swing for strike three to retire the side in the top of the 5th inning.

Colon would finish with 8 strikeouts, giving up one lone run on four hits in his 7 innings pitched, to pick up his second win of the season.  Dice-K would earn the save for the Mets, his first.

Lance Lynn was rolling for the Cardinals until the bottom 5th, when Chris Young led off with a long bomb to left field to tie the game.  Bobby Abreu would double, but would be grounded after two of the three batters struck out, and Colon grounded out to end the inning.

Lynn would cause further trouble for himself in the 6th inning when a throwing error put Eric Young on board, then was able to advance to 2nd after the error.  That allowed Daniel Murphy to bring him home for the go-ahead run.  The Mets would score two more in the 7th inning.

Carlos Torres was brought on to pitch the 8th, and was able to get two outs.  But after a walk to Matt Holliday that put runners on 1st and 2nd, he was replaced by Scott Rice, who got Matt Adams to hit back to him for the third out.

The Mets, two games above .500 for the first time since last April, now prepare for a three game series against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field.

GRAND CENTRAL: Hitless the last 6 straight games, Curtis Granderson ended that streak with a line drive in the 2nd inning in Wednesday's game.  Hitting for Bartolo Colon, Granderson got the benefit of a misfielded play that went through for a base hit, bringing home a run to extend the Mets lead to 3-1.  He would get caught between 1st and 2nd and would be retired on a rundown after Anthony Recker scored.

DICE-SAVE: In Daisuke Matsuzaka's 4th appearance for the Mets, Terry Collins opted to put him in the 9th inning to earn the save. It is the first time in Dice-K's eight-year career that he was given a save opportunity, having started all but one game leading up to this year.  He was able to retire all three batters he faced for the save.

WHEELS UP: Next up, a three game series against the Miami Marlins, who started hot but cooled off thanks to an eight game losing streak in the middle of the month.  The Marlins, despite losing two of three against the Atlanta Braves, have the benefit of an extra day of rest.  They will send Henderson Alvarez onto the mound, who last pitched a 7-0 shutout against the Seattle Mariners for his first win of the season.

Mets Recap: Mets Mystified By Wainwright

In 2012, Adam Wainwright surrendered 12 runs on 14 hits in his two outings against the Mets.

In 2013, Adam Wainwright gave up 4 hits, but kept the Mets off the board.

Unfortunately for the Mets, they met the 2013 version when he held the Mets to four hits in 7 innings pitched as the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Mets 3-0. 

But Wainwright needed a little help.  In the 5th inning, the Mets threatened to score when Chris Young took Wainwright deep, but was called out when left fielder Matt Holliday reached over the fence to catch the ball before going out of play for a home run.

That was as close as the Mets would get to scoring against Wainwright.  He had to leave after 7 innings after hyper-extending his knee, an injury that isn't expect to sideline the ace.

NOT-SO-GRAND: Curtis Granderson has reached a career low - now 0 for his last 22.  What was hoped to be a confidence boost when he hit a sac-fly to bring home the game-winning run on Sunday has turned into a continuation of his woes at the plate.  

GEEZ: Dillon Gee took the loss for the Mets, giving up 2 runs in the 4th inning, then retired three straight to prevent any further damage.

VALVE: Jose Valverde, making his first appearance since losing the closer role, proceeded to surrender a run when Matt Holliday brought home Daniel Descalso before getting thrown out at second to end the top of the 9th.

MIDDLE MATT: Off the field, Matt Harvey made news when he tweeted a photo of himself in bed marking the 6-month anniversary of his Tommy John surgery.  The photo featured himself giving the middle finger on camera.  

The Mets were not pleased, and not only asked Harvey to delete the tweet, but to also delete his Twitter account.  

Sports Roundtable: Weekend Edition

Alright.  The weekend is over, the weather is still very pleasant, and champions were crown.  Let's get to the Sports Roundtable for the Weekend.

Sports Roundtable: Thursday, April 10th

If you remember last year, we did a thing on this blog called the Daily Recap.  This Roundtable continues the concept - going around from league to league, local to national, and telling you what's going on in the sports world that caught our attention here in the studio.

The Thursday edition, which recaps the news from Wednesday, appears after the jump.

Mets Recap: 5th Inning Headache

Game 8: NY Mets @ Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA - Zack Wheeler had a rude awakening early in his return to the field where he got his start last summer.

In fact, it occured on the first batter he faced.  Not getting strike 3 on a 2-2 count, Wheeler continued dealing to Jason Heyward, who kept fouling his attempts.  Then Heyward made perfect contact with the 11th pitch he saw, and took it deep to put the Braves immediately in front 1-0.

Wheeler was able to calm down, but became unglued in the 5th inning when the Braves torched him for three runs, eventually chasing him from the game.

The Mets hitting woes crept back as Ervin Santana dealt an eight inning masterpiece where he struck out six, walked none and surrendered only three hits.  It was only once the Braves went to the bullpen when they were able to generate any runs, scoring three runs in the 9th inning off relievers Jordan Walden and Craig Kimbrel before Kimbrel was able to get Ruben Tejada, Tuesday's main hero, to strike out with the tying run 90 feet away at third base.

Flat Tire: After starting 3-0 against the Atlanta Braves, Zack Wheeler suffered his first loss against the team he grew up cheering for as as child.  In his two losses this year, Wheeler has struck out 12, but has given up 15 hits and seven earned runs, allowing his ERA to blossom to 5.73.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Ruben Tejada, who drove in two runs and scored two himself, went empty on Wednesday, going 0-for-4 and striking out once, but that one strikeout came at a major juncture as the tying run in the top of the ninth inning was 90 feet away when he struck out to end the ballgame.

Dud: Lucas Duda went 1-for-4, but struck out twice and left four on base.

Mendoza: After eight games, the Mets have batted a collective .190, with four of the nine starters on Wednesday batting under the .200 mark.

Rubber Match: Jenrry Meija gets the ball from Terry Collins in the Thursday rubber match.  He gave up only one run in six innings pitched as the Mets squeaked by with the 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.  He'll be opposite David Hale, who picked up a no-decision on Friday against the Washington Nationals.  He only struck out four in his five innings pitched, but kept the Nationals off the board.

Pregame coverage begins at 6:30pm Thursday on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.

Mets Recap: Colón keeps the Braves at Bay

GAME 7: NY Mets @ Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA - It was supposed to be a celebration of old and new in Atlanta.  But the Mets came ready to spoil the party.

On the night the Braves saluted Hank Aaron's 715th home run, and the city of Atlanta welcomed the Braves for the first time in this young season, the Mets crashed the party with their 4-0 win.

Ruben Tejada batted in two runs, and crossed home plate twice himself, to help Bartolo Colón (1-1 2.08) earn his first win as a Met.  Colón pitched seven innings, giving up six hits and striking out five in the winning effort in a game where he kept the Braves away from reaching third base.

Aaron Harang (1-1 0.71) pitched six innings for the Braves, surrendering one run when he threw wildly in the third inning, allowing Ruben Tejada to score.  He walked four and struck out nine in the losing effort.  Gus Schlosser allowed two more runs to score in the seventh inning, when he allowed the first two batters to reach base.

Ruben Tejada capped the scoring in the eight inning when he brought Lucas Duda home on a single off Ian Thomas.

K'D: The New York Mets struck out nine times in the first six innings, putting their seven game total to 70 total strikeouts.  Eric Young Jr. leads the Mets with 10 strikeouts after one strikeout on Tuesday, but made up for it going 2-for-4 as the lead-off hitter.  Of all Met hitters, Jonathon Niese is the only batter who hasn't K'd this young season, a distinction that will continue for awhile as Niese's next start is scheduled to be at the Los Angeles Angels, an American League ballpark.

SB: Entering Tuesday's game, the New York Mets hadn't stolen a single base.  That distinction ended quickly on Tuesday after Eric Young Jr. singled as the lead-off batter in the 1st inning, and then a few pitches later stole second base.  He would steal again his second at bat, in the third inning.  Curtis Granderson gave the Mets their third steal of the game in the sixth inning.

TONIGHT: In the ballpark where he made his Major League debut, Zack Wheeler will make the start against the Atlanta Braves.  Wheeler took the loss in an 8-2 decision against the Washington Nationals.  The Braves will send Ervin Santana for the first time this year.  With the Royals last year, Santana pitched six innings in his last start back in September, giving up four runs on five hits in a loss to the Seattle Mariners that officially eliminated the Kansas City Royals from postseason contention.

First pitch at Atlanta is scheduled for 7:10pm, with radio coverage starting at 6:30pm on 1230 FOX Sports Radio.