Mets Dillion Gee and Braves Jair Jurrjens locked horns in queens and had a night to remember for pitching enthusiasts. Gee and Jair matched zeros until the bottom of the 7th when Alex Gonzalez booted a routine grounder with 1 away to Jason Bay. Josh Thole would hit a double and Bay would go 1st to 3rd. Ruben would get hit by a pitch to load the bases and Jason Pridie’s bat would die a hero as it gave way to a bloop single to put the Mets up 1-0. Reyes would again make Sandy’s job a hellova lot harder, hitting a bases clearing triple to put the up Mets 4-0. Turner would execute textbook fundies to drive in Reyes with a sac fly to center and tick the Mets lead up to 5-0.
Just to add a comment in here…I dont know if this is Reyes playing for a contract or Reyes finally healthy but holy crap…the guy is making an early case for MVP this season. Im starting to turn the page as being pro-trade Reyes to help the team overall with a good harvest of prospect to keeping him for the foreseeable future. Anyway…back to the post game.
A night after the Mets pen collapsed, they bounced back quite nicely. Pedro Beato came in to relieve Gee, and had himself 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, followed by Byrdak closing out the game by getting Mccann and Freeman out. Mets split the series so far with the Braves.
17 comments
metsfan4decades
6/4/2011-9:45pm at 9:45 pm (UTC -4)
It was the Gee and Jose show tonight.
Gee 6-0 to start his season. Who would have thought?
And for the record, I wanted Sandy’s first order of business last Nov. to be resigning Reyes and I haven’t waivered from that once. I’m not of the opinion this is because of his walk year. I really believed all along Jose’s problem was health and nothing but.
He appears healthy, his bat is on fire, he’s played all games except the few days off due to death in the family. He certainly doesn’t look like he’s lost a step to me.
Great game on this Saturday evening.
njstuckintx
6/4/2011-9:59pm at 9:59 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed that I want Reyes here as well. That said, with every triple he’s smacking, that trade value is just going up and up…
Reyes is going to cost a lot. Worth the money.
hazmet
6/4/2011-10:54pm at 10:54 pm (UTC -4)
I’ve resisted posting this following thought at the risk of piling on the Omar regime but could we now consider giving Reyes his extension back in 2006 a mistake instead of letting him play out arbitration each year until he became free agency eligible? If I calculated 6 years since he could become eligible he would have first become eligible for Free Agency after the 2009 season. Since he was injured most of the 2009 season if he hadn’t been extended we could have re-signed him on the cheap as a Free Agent then for more years. Omar, the gift that keeps giving.
njstuckintx
6/5/2011-8:40am at 8:40 am (UTC -4)
Nah, the contract was actually very favorable, I thought. What drives me nuts is that nothing has begun in extension talks. Even if they were not looking to offer more than a 4-5 year deal initially, the talks should have begun. And I’m not sure who that is on. Wilpon? Alderson?
As far as Reyes being an FA come 2009 and being injured and such, that would have been wishful 20/20 hindsight. But your point is understood.
stickguy
6/5/2011-8:49am at 8:49 am (UTC -4)
we don’t really know what discussions happened last off season, or are going on now behind the scenes. Just that nothing has been reported.
stickguy
6/5/2011-8:55am at 8:55 am (UTC -4)
I will say that MF and I are the 2 most vocal posters about signing reyes should have been job 1 last off season (and saying that since before the season started). I have no clue if the LT plan drawn up was to punt him regardless, but I would bet they never saw a year like this coming.
If he keeps up this level of play, I don’t know if it makes it better or worse for the FO (assuming they weren’t planning to commit huge $$s to Jose). At least if a team bites on a Crawford/werth level deal, it gives them an excuse (too rich for our blood even though we wanted him back) to wave goodbye!
if he had a mid-level year and could be had at expensive but not crazy money, that would have been hard to weasel out of.
metsfan4decades
6/4/2011-9:54pm at 9:54 pm (UTC -4)
LOL.
First question to TC tonight was same as a couple of nights ago:
‘How do you describe that 7th inning, Terry’.
Prismo
6/4/2011-10:11pm at 10:11 pm (UTC -4)
Recalling Kingman’s statement from earlier today about how Reyes is TERRIBLE in late inning clutch situations, I truly am having a hard time recalling such an event. Of course, I only have a 30 minute memory.
hazmet
6/4/2011-10:39pm at 10:39 pm (UTC -4)
lol. I hate to say it but when I read that I ran to Baseball Reference to look it up. I think I found it on ESPN’s stats. But unfortunately knog was right as Reyes entered the game hitting .209 with RISP.
Disclaimer: Reyes has been my fav player of this generation since he joined the team. That being said I’m the ultimate Jose apologist. Jose Jose Jose Jose…. Jose Jose.
Prismo
6/4/2011-11:12pm at 11:12 pm (UTC -4)
Haha! Yeah, I know Kong is right. But that’s not his primary job, or even his secondary job (I would rate getting on base/scoring runs and defense at SS above hitting with RISP from a leadoff batter), so I’m very okay with it.
kingman 26
6/4/2011-11:16pm at 11:16 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, reality and facts really just suck on places like this, don’t they?
stickguy
6/5/2011-8:47am at 8:47 am (UTC -4)
saw this titbit over on the espn morning briefing.
Newsday columinst Ken Davidoff says Gee appears unfazed no matter what is going on around him with the Mets. He points to Gee experimenting with a cut fastball in the bullpen while warming up because his slider was ineffective, then using the newly crafted pitch in the game. Writes Davidoff:
and the first thing I thought was, not a chance in the world you would ever hear this about pelf! could you imagine him whipping up a new pitch on the fly, then getting away with using it in a game?
He also mentioned the Prado AB where there were 2 super close pitches with 2 strikes that weren’t called, but Gee did not let it get to him.
Oh, and man, every time you think Bay has reached the pit of suckitude, he digs the hole a little deeper. I am thinking an 0-5 with 4Ks is about right for tonight.
Dirtysanchez
6/5/2011-10:02am at 10:02 am (UTC -4)
Wouldnt surprise me if thats Bay’s line tonight. I just dont know how you go from his kind of stats to this? It cannot be just the ballpark because on the road he doesnt really do much better. We are paying 16 mill a season for a left fielder…that is all. AT least holiday still hits…
stickguy
6/5/2011-10:06am at 10:06 am (UTC -4)
a combination of age catching up with him (real fast, as in Alomar) and something else.
Could be just kicking back having singed his retirement plan contract, but I doubt it, since he seems to still care and to bust his hump in the field.
Maybe it is all about his mechanics. For whatever reason, he completely changed them last season, and seems to have tinkered more this year, so they are nothing like when he was good (and I have not seen any analysis that points to them being an improvement!)
The mechanics is what leads me to believe there is still a chance he rebounds. most likely of course for another team, but could still happen!
metsfan4decades
6/5/2011-10:16am at 10:16 am (UTC -4)
For whatever reason, a good many Met fans discounted Gee’s performance last Sept. saying, well…..it’s Sep.
I was impressed with him then – and not just his pitching line but his demeanor on the mound – and I’m even more impressed with him now.
What he is, is smart – and not in that Ivy league intellectual way. He just a smart pitcher, one who maximizes his strengths and limits his weaknesses. That’s what makes him good and what I’m thinking will make him successful for sometime to come.
Dirtysanchez
6/5/2011-10:30am at 10:30 am (UTC -4)
Like ron said last night, he has an idea out there. His approach to chipper was a perfect example of that…a change down and away got a bad swing from chip, so what does gee do…throws it again and gets a k. Guys like that are valuable and hopefully gee can stay healthy to stick around a bit longer.
stickguy
6/5/2011-12:14pm at 12:14 pm (UTC -4)
so basically he is the anti-Pelf?