One bad inning sinks Gee

Dillon Gee, despite earlier talk of a "dead-arm" period, looked great Saturday at Citi Field against the Yankees for five innings. But in the sixth, disaster struck. Gee gave up a one-out homer to Curtis Granderson and the Yankees followed with three straight hits, including a two-run triple by Robinson Cano. When Nick Swisher added a sacrifice fly, the Mets were in a 4-0 hole.

"Geez, I was as shocked and baffled as anybody," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He was absolutely pitching brilliantly, just brilliantly. God, all of a sudden, he got the changeup up to Granderson. When that ball was hit, he might have lost his concentration for a brief time. That's all I can guess."

Gee disagreed with that assessment but realized the game was slipping away at that point. "No, I don't think it was concentration," said Gee, who slipped to 8-2 and had his ERA rise to 3.47. "I thought I made a decent pitch to Granderson. I don't know if it's shocking -- that's the kind of team they are. They can do that."

Gee fanned seven -- striking out the side in the fifth inning -- and that was one short of his personal high set May 30 in Pittsburgh. But he allowed four runs for the second time in three starts after holding opponents to three or fewer runs in the previous four starts dating to May 30.

Extra bases

The Mets went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and are 3-for-17 in the first two games against the Yankees. In their three straight losses, they are hitting .125 (3-for-24) in those situations. With the bases loaded in the fifth inning of a scoreless game, Gee grounded into an inning-ending 5-3 double play . . . Manny Acosta pitched a scoreless eighth inning after leaving Thursday's game because of a bruised right wrist . . . The Mets announced the signing of switch-hitting catcher Jose Garcia, 16, who was ranked among the top 10 Venezuelan prospects this year, according to Baseball America.