Hot Mets thump Pirates behind Gee

PITTSBURGH -- Dillon Gee pitches. The Mets win. It's as simple and as lovely as that.

Gee improved to 7-0 -- and the Mets improved to 9-0 when he starts -- with an 8-1 thumping of the Pirates on Friday night at PNC Park. It was the surging Mets' fifth win in six games and brought them to within a game of .500 at 31-32.

Gee, whose Rookie of the Year credentials grow with each outing, allowed one run and eight hits in eight innings. He is 9-2 overall in 14 big-league starts dating to last September.

"He has really pitched great," manager Terry Collins said. "I can't say enough good things about the job he's done on that mound, controlling his emotions, keeping himself in the game, just making pitches. It's been really amazing to watch."

Jose Reyes led the Mets' 13-hit attack by going 3-for-5 with a solo home run. Angel Pagan had a double, triple and RBI and Josh Thole had three hits and an RBI. Lucas Duda, called up before the game, had an RBI single and sacrifice fly and Justin Turner had a two-run single.

But the star of the night was Gee. The 25-year-old righthander allowed a run on three singles to the first three batters. His first out was a fluke behind-the-back stab of Neil Walker's comebacker that Gee turned into a forceout at third base.

From that point, he allowed no runs and five hits through the eighth inning with no walks and five strikeouts. His ERA fell to 3.05.

"I don't want to look into it that much," Gee said of his streak. "I definitely feel like I'm getting more confidence every time out, but it's hard work and I've just got to keep working hard to maintain where I'm at and get a little better, too."

How much better can Gee get? He is the first Mets rookie to win his first seven decisions to start a season. The Mets' record for wins to start a season is 10, set by Terry Leach in 1987. Dwight Gooden (1988) and Pat Mahomes (1999) both started 8-0.

"It's nice, but I'm not out there doing it by myself," Gee said. "I had a lot of help."

The score was tied at 1 in the fourth when the Mets batted around and scored five times against Pirates starter Charlie Morton (6-3, 3.08).

Pagan led off with a double and scored on Duda's scorching single to center. Duda, starting in place of the benched Jason Bay, was called up to provide punch as the Mets' raid of Triple-A Buffalo continues.

Duda moved all the way to third on the single when centerfielder Andrew McCutchen threw the ball past catcher Dusty Brown. He scored on Thole's first hit of the night to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Ruben Tejada singled, as did Reyes one out later.

Turner -- who could be heading to the bench for a rest in a chain reaction when Bay returns, according to Mets manager Terry Collins -- singled off Morton's foot for two more runs and a 5-1 Mets advantage. The final run of the inning scored on Carlos Beltran's sacrifice fly.

In the fifth, Pagan tripled and scored on Duda's sacrifice fly. Reyes hit his second homer of the season in the sixth to complete the scoring.