Dillon Gee strikes out 12 as Mets complete Subway Series sweep
Dillon Gee reacts after striking out the side in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the Subway Series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. (May 30, 2013) Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees like to say their pinstripes can bring out the best in players. This week, perhaps seeing those uniforms did something special for the Mets.
The Mets' season, an afterthought only last weekend, suddenly has gained some relevance thanks to a most improbable sweep of the Subway Series.
The Mets completed the four-game, two-stadium sweep with a 3-1 victory Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, riding a career-best performance by Dillon Gee and a two-run homer by Marlon Byrd. The Mets retired the last 20 Yankees, 11 on strikeouts.
The only other Subway Series sweep was in 2003, when the Yankees went 6-0.
The loss was the Yankees' fifth straight, only the third time they've done that in six seasons under Joe Girardi. Their makeshift lineup, so clutch for so long this season, has gone cold, and that continued at the hands of a most unlikely pitcher.
With top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler expected to join the Mets in the next few weeks, Gee was coming off several shaky outings and no doubt pitching for his spot in the rotation. The 27-year-old righthander responded by making quite a statement.
Gee (3-6, 5.68 ERA) allowed only a home run by Robinson Cano in the third and four hits in 71/3 innings. He walked none and struck out a career-best 12, including his final five batters.
"It definitely feels good to come in here and sweep the Subway Series and be playing good baseball again,'' Gee said. "I just wanted to continue that trend.''
Gee had allowed 13 earned runs in his last 14 innings, spanning three starts. Terry Collins said after the game that he warned Gee after his last start that his spot was on the line. Gee reacted by doing everything he possibly could to save his job -- and keep the Mets rolling.
Collins said the season-high five-game winning streak "establishes a mood in the clubhouse that we're not that bad. We're not bad.'' And it came at just the right time. Collins said a few unnamed players were becoming dejected last week, saying things such as "I don't know if I can do this anymore.''
But winning cures a lot of clubhouse ills, especially in the high-profile setting of the Subway Series. Now it's the Yankees who are struggling as the Red Sox come in for a weekend series.
"It's hard when you lose to your crosstown rivals,'' Girardi said. "You don't want to be part of a team that gets swept by your crosstown rivals.''
Girardi had hoped for an early lead that would jump-start his club, but that didn't happen.
Vidal Nuño (1-2) walked Lucas Duda on four pitches leading off the second, then gave up a towering homer to Byrd. Austin Romine called for a fastball and set up inside, but Nuño's 1-and-2 pitch sailed across the plate, allowing Byrd to extend his arms and knock the 88-mph pitch into the second deck in leftfield.
The Mets added an insurance run in the eighth. After a wild pitch by Joba Chamberlain moved runners to second and third with two outs, John Buck hit a slow roller down the third-base line. David Adams' only play was to see if it would roll foul, but it hit the bag.
It's been that kind of week for the Mets, who can only hope it's a sign of things to come.
Asked if the sweep is any sweeter because it came against the Yankees, Collins said, "I wish I could say it does, but to be honest, like I was saying earlier, we just need to win baseball games right now. Five in a row, I don't care who we're playing against; we had to win five in a row and we have to continue it.''
