Gee holds Nats to two hits in 7

Even when the Mets were at full strength, they weren't exactly piling up runs. It comes down to pitching, even for a team that also doesn't have the strongest rotation and is missing three of its lineup regulars.

Dillon Gee has bounced from Triple-A to the starting rotation to the bullpen and back to the rotation, but he still has the faith of Terry Collins, who worked with a large portion of his current Mets roster when he was the minor-league field coordinator last season.

And Gee rewarded that faith Thursday with one of his best major-league outings. He lost his no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth but pitched 7 2/3 innings of two-hit ball in a 1-0 win, the Mets' second straight shutout of the Nationals.

"He pitched like I've seen him pitch before," Collins said. "A great outing."

The Mets (21-22), now one game under .500 for the first time since they were 4-5, head into the Subway Series tonight with a little bit of confidence despite losing David Wright and Ike Davis to possibly long-term injuries in the past week and continuing without Angel Pagan.

"Everyone in here is capable of playing this game," said Justin Turner, who singled home a run in the fourth against Livan Hernandez (3-6), his 13th RBI in 51 at-bats and his fifth straight game with a run batted in. "David and Ike, those guys aren't replaceable. But I don't go up there thinking, 'What would David Wright do here?' "

Turner also was involved in a crucial ninth-inning play. After Francisco Rodriguez allowed a one-out double to Laynce Nix, Jayson Werth hit a smash to third. Turner backhanded the ball, double-pumped and threw wide to first, but Phil Cuzzi called Werth out.

Replay evidence showed Daniel Murphy's foot was off the bag and that Werth was close to beating the throw regardless. Asked if he was happy to see Cuzzi's incorrect out call, Turner smiled: "I wasn't mad."

The Nationals were, and they let the umpiring crew know about it on the field and after Rodriguez closed out the game for his 14th save.

Gee (3-0) felt much better about his third start since returning to the rotation in Chris Young's spot than his first two. In the most recent of those, Friday in Houston, Gee said his performance was "timid."

"Just trying to be too fine, trying to make the ball move instead of just throwing it," he said. "When I do that, my arm speed isn't the same on every pitch and they pick up on that."

He was aggressive from the first hitter Thursday, and it was a 13-pitch at-bat for Roger Bernadina, who fouled off eight pitches before Gee caught him looking. That didn't portend a long, strong outing for someone who had been in the bullpen two weeks earlier, but Gee was aggressive with his changeup and allowed only a walk to Werth through the first 17 hitters. He was erased on a double-play ball.

Hernandez, the original off-speed master, broke up the no-hitter with a sharp single back through the box. In the eighth, Gee allowed a walk and a bloop single to Alex Cora with one out, but Collins left Gee in to face pinch hitter Matt Stairs, who flew out to right. Tim Byrdak then got Michael Morse to ground into a forceout.

"It was kind of the opposite of [Wednesday], when I wanted Jonathon Niese to get out of that jam in the seventh," Collins said. "Today, I just said there's no way we're going to let [Gee] lose this game after he got Stairs out."