Gee Pitches Mets Past Marlins 5-1 For Double Dip Sweep
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dillon Gee rebounded from a wretched start and the New York Mets, back on the field following a two-day break because of Hurricane Irene, finished off a doubleheader sweep of the Florida Marlins with a 5-1 victory Monday night.
R.A. Dickey shut down the sluggish Marlins in the opener, pitching seven spotless innings in a 2-1 victory for his first win in more than a month.
Mets starters had tossed 21 consecutive scoreless innings before Gee (12-5) gave up a home run to Greg Dobbs in the sixth. All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes scored a run and committed an error in his return from the disabled list.
A boy in the stands got hurt in the ninth inning of the opener when Dobbs hit a line drive into the right-field seats, just beyond the New York dugout. Stadium medical workers immediately tended to the boy, who appeared to be hit in the face and was bleeding heavily. Accompanied by his mother, he was carted away in a wheelchair after the game and taken under the stands to an ambulance.
Following the final out, Mets second baseman Justin Turner went to wait for the boy by the railing. Turner took off his jersey and handed it over as a souvenir. Dobbs gave the boy a bat, and New York manager Terry Collins also stopped by the scene.
In the nightcap, Ruben Tejada tripled off Ricky Nolasco (9-10) to set up the first run and scored twice. David Wright drove in two and the Mets got two-out RBI singles from Angel Pagan and Willie Harris in the sixth.
New York has won four straight following a 2-11 skid.
Gee went six innings, allowing six hits while striking out six and walking two. It was quite a turnaround from his previous outing, when the normally poised rookie gave up a career-high eight runs, seven hits and six walks in 3 2-3 innings of a 10-0 rout at Philadelphia.
Manny Acosta struck out all three batters in the eighth -- just as Jason Isringhausen did in the first game. Bobby Parnell, who earned his second save in the opener, finished up.
The Mets were swept in their two previous doubleheaders this season, by Colorado and Atlanta in April.
Turner had a run-scoring single in the opener and Josh Thole hustled his way to an RBI. Parnell gave up a homer to New York nemesis Gaby Sanchez in the ninth.
Both teams were playing for the first time since Friday because of Hurricane Irene, which battered the East Coast over the weekend. The Marlins rode out the storm in Philadelphia, then bused up to New York on Sunday night.
Dickey (6-11) lost power at his Long Island home during the storm, but was steady on the mound all afternoon. Floating a few 60 mph knuckleballs at the Marlins, he scattered seven hits and walked one while striking out six in his first win since July 25.
"It's not the metrics that's the measurement. If there's a win or a loss by my name, it has to do with the team who gets the win. That's what I try to focus on more than anything," Dickey said. "It felt like a long time, but I didn't know the exact date."
Dickey finally got some good fortune in the sixth when Dobbs lined out to third with runners at the corners and one out. Sanchez flied out to end the inning.
Florida opened the seventh with consecutive singles, but Dickey picked off Mike Cameron at second with an unorthodox move and then worked his way out of the inning.
It was Dickey's seventh consecutive quality start, the best such streak of his career. Hampered by a lack of offensive support, however, he was 0-3 in his previous five outings.
"R.A. Dickey is one of the most popular guys in the clubhouse, without a question," Collins said. "He's been pitching great. But for him to get a win, there's a lot of guys happy for him right now."
Lucas Duda had three hits for the Mets, who won for the first time in five home games against Florida this year. The Marlins had won six in a row at Citi Field since Aug. 25, 2010.
Anibal Sanchez (7-7) went six innings for the last-place Marlins, who are 4-19 since a three-game winning streak that culminated with two victories at Citi Field in early August. The right-hander, who has lost six of seven decisions, walked four and threw 117 pitches.
"It's unacceptable. He's too good a pitcher to be messing around like that," Florida manager Jack McKeon said. "Somewhere along the line you've got to have some concentration. Close them out."
Only a few thousand fans were scattered throughout the stands for the start of the first game, a makeup of an Aug. 3 rainout and the opener of a five-game series. But with Hurricane Irene having already swept through the area, the sky was blue and clear on a beautiful, 76-degree day.
The field appeared to be in fine shape, too, although the grounds crew manicured the mound before Dickey warmed up in the fourth.
"We had a tough time with him," McKeon said. "They probably were trying to see the soft stuff and hit it out of the ballpark. It doesn't work that way."
NOTES: Dickey will start again Friday on three days' rest. ... At the Mets' request, the Marlins agreed to move up the start time for their Sept. 7 game in Miami two hours to 5:10 p.m. The following day, New York has a doubleheader at home against Atlanta beginning at 4:10 p.m. to make up the two games postponed this past weekend by Hurricane Irene. ... New York needs a spot starter Wednesday or Thursday. It is likely to be RHP Miguel Batista, Collins said. ... Turner was among several Mets ordered to evacuate their homes who rode out the storm at Isringhausen's place on Long Island. "We ate good," the rookie said.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
