Dodgers Manage To Take One From Dillon Gee, Mets
LOS ANGELES (WFAN/AP) — The sixth inning has been Dillon Gee's undoing.
The Los Angeles Dodgers scored five runs off the right-hander in that inning on their way to a 6-0 victory over the Mets on Thursday night that snapped a five-game losing skid.
In his previous start, Gee gave up four runs in the sixth to the New York Yankees and lost 4-0.
"It's disappointing that two games in a row I've had one big inning that really killed me," he said.
Gee (8-3) gave up five hits and six runs — five earned — struck out two and walked one. He didn't get a lot of help from the defense -- the Mets had three errors on the game.
"There's no question, we can't make mistakes," said manager Terry Collins. "We can't throw the ball around, kick the ball around and expect to win. It's just not the kind of club we have."
Clayton Kershaw (9-4) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth by striking out Ronny Paulino to end the inning after getting a visit from manager Don Mattingly.
"When we had the bases loaded, he threw me a filthy curveball on a 2-2 count after throwing me four fastballs about 94-95," Paulino said. "He's a power pitcher and he knows how to pitch in and out and use his changeup and curve when he has to, even behind in the count. He's tough to guess against, so you have to focus on getting good pitches to hit and hope he'll make a mistake that you can take advantage of."
The Mets loaded the bases again in the ninth against Kenley Jansen before Hong-Chih Kuo got the final two outs.
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes went on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a strained left hamstring that will cause him to sit out the All-Star game, although he will still attend. Collins hopes Reyes can return by July 22, when the Mets open a series at Florida.
"We came in here and had a very, very good series without Jose, and we've got to move forward," Collins said. "We've got our work cut out for us."
Kershaw scattered five hits over eight innings and the Dodgers parlayed extra-base hits by Matt Kemp, Juan Uribe, Aaron Miles and Dioner Navarro into that big inning to stop the Mets' four-game winning streak and keep them from sweeping the Dodgers for the first time in four games at Chavez Ravine.
Kershaw (9-4) struck out nine and walked two in his last start before the All-Star break. The left-hander, who will pitch in his first All-Star game next week in Phoenix, came within one strikeout of his fourth straight double-digit game, something that hadn't been done by a Dodgers pitcher since Hideo Nomo in1995.
"Clayton pitched very, very good. The guys were saying his fastball was really on top of them," Collins said. "Jason Bay said it was like hitting a shot put because it was heavy. They needed a start like that out of their ace and they got it. But we didn't help Dillon by the way we played. That's not characteristic of the way we've been playing."
After scoring just five runs in losing the first three games of the series, the Dodgers went on a roll in the sixth inning, sending nine men to the plate.
Tony Gwynn Jr. singled to lead off, stole second and continued to third on a throwing error by catcher Paulino. After Jamey Carroll grounded out, Andre Ethier walked. Gwynn and Ethier scored on Kemp's RBI double to left field.
"The key point in that inning was leaving the changeup up to Kemp. It was just a bad pitch, it kind of got away from me and he made me pay for it," Gee said. "We had him where we wanted him at that point. I was kind of on the fence about what I wanted to throw. Obviously, the changeup is my best pitch, but it's one of those things where you don't want to go to it too much."
Gee got two strikes on Kemp in the at-bat.
"It's the second time in that inning that he lost command of his stuff and his concentration was broken," Collins said. "It's something we've certainly got to fix."
Uribe's ground-rule double scored Kemp before Miles' RBI double brought Uribe home. Navarro's triple into the right field corner scored Miles.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on Miles' sacrifice fly in the second. Uribe was hit in the left elbow by a pitch with one out. Gee knocked down James Loney's comebacker, tried for the force at second and made a throwing error that allowed Uribe to take third.
Uribe and the throw from left fielder Bay got to the plate at the same time and umpire Greg Gibson called Uribe safe, even though the TV replays showed Paulino tagged Uribe's right knee before his leg touched the plate. Collins vehemently argued with Gibson to no avail.
"It's a tough call because it was a bang-bang play," Paulino said. "I moved right in front of the plate when the ball got to me, but he must have thought that I was behind the plate and that he touched the plate first."
Gibson was involved in a blown call at first base on Wednesday night. Ethier hit an opposite-field RBI single through the left side and Kemp followed with what appeared to be a double-play grounder to shortstop. But Gibson ruled Kemp beat the relay, bringing Collins out of the dugout for a brief argument.
TV replays also showed Gibson got that one wrong. Carroll took third on the fielder's choice grounder and scored on Uribe's sacrifice fly — which would have been the third out.
NOTES: Mets RF Carlos Beltran's 11-game hitting streak ended after he went 0 for 3. ... Mets 2B Justin Turner failed to reach base for the first time in 29 games. ... The Mets fell to 11-3 in Gee's 14 starts this season. ... The Dodgers honored Hall of Famer Dick Williams with a moment of silence before the game. Williams, who died Thursday at 82, broke into the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. ... Ethier teamed with his father Byron for the first pitch, with Byron throwing and his son catching on Ethier's bobblehead night. The giveaway helped attract an announced crowd of 56,000, just the third sellout of the season.
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