After a John Buck single and Justin Turner single that moved Buck to third (Turner was safe at second base, but called out), the Mets took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a short sacrifice fly to right field by Marlon Byrd.

May 9, 2013; Flushing, NY,USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Dillon Gee (35) pitches during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

That’s where the game remained until the top of the sixth.  Gee was at 89 pitches (his season high prior to tonight was 98) and he was about to face the heart of the order.  Instead of being proactive, Terry Collins waited until the first two batters reached before getting Brandon Lyon up in the pen.  He then allowed Gee to stay in long enough to load the bases (by drilling Russell Martin) before removing Gee and replacing him with Lyon.  Fortunately for the Mets, Lyon did a tremendous job of getting out of the jam while only allowing one run (on a sacrifice fly to center) as Pittsburgh tied things at 1.

After Scott Rice was summoned from the pen to work out of a jam in the seventh, the Mets took the lead back in the bottom of the inning.  After Andrew Brown‘s first hit as a Met, Ike Davis (who had been double switched into the game with Rice) laced an RBI double deep to right center to drive in Brown and put the Mets ahead 2-1.  As quickly as the Mets regained the lead, Pittsburgh drew even.  LaTroy Hawkins was asked to pitch the eighth (despite Scott Rice having being double switched into the game in the seventh), and allowed a one out solo homer to lefty hitting Pedro Alvarez as the Pirates knotted things at 2.

After a run saving catch by Juan Lagares in the top of the ninth (see the highlights section), Marlon Byrd led off the bottom of the inning with an infield hit to second.  Andrew Brown followed by laying down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move Byrd to second base.  Mike Baxter then delivered a pinch hit walkoff single up the middle to score Byrd as the Mets won 3-2.

Highlights:

• Dillon Gee tossed 5 innings before falling apart in the 6th, as he loaded the bases with no one out before turning the ball over to Brandon Lyon.  Gee’s final line: 5 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 run (earned), 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.  He also hit two batters.  Gee pitched well for the most part until the 6th, but his command was still off – leading to the high pitch count and the mess he left Lyon.

• Brandon Lyon relieved Gee with the bases loaded and no one out in the sixth, and got out of the jam while only allowing 1 run (on a sacrifice fly).

• Andrew Brown, who started in left field, got his  first hit as a Met in the 7th with a line drive single to right field.

• Ike Davis, who was double switched into the game in the top of the 7th, hit a deep RBI double to right field in the bottom of the inning.

• With a runner at first and two outs in the top of the ninth, Juan Lagares made an incredible catch in center field on a ball off the bat of Andrew McCutchen.  The ball may have gone over the wall if not for Lagares, and would’ve absolutely been a run scoring double if he hadn’t caught it.

• Mike Baxter pinch hit in the 9th and delivered a walk off RBI single to win it for the Mets for the second time in three days.

Thoughts:

Gee was decent, the bullpen held its own, and the Pride of Whitestone came through again.

Next Up:

The Mets and Pirates will play Game two of their set tomorrow night at 7:10.  Shaun Marcum will get the start for New York.

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Apr 12, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jonathon Niese (49) walks with New York Mets catcher John Buck (44) and New York Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen before the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets led 10-2 entering the fifth, when the Twins pulled within 10-5 by scoring three runs off Niese.  Jordany Valdespin appeared to throw out Justin Morneau (who scored the third run of the inning) at the plate, but he was ruled safe as the Twins pulled within five.

In the seventh, the Mets increased their lead to 14-5.  First, Daniel Murhpy roped a three run double.  David Wright followed that by smoking a run scoring triple off the right field fence.  The Mets added two in the ninth for good measure, upping their lead to 16-5 and closing out the scoring.

Highlights:

• Jonathon Niese got the start for the Mets and had a rough first inning.  He gave up two runs, but limited the damage.  Niese settled in after the first, but got touched up a bit in the fifth.  He allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits in five innings.  He walked four and struck out one.

• Jordany Valdespin got the start in center and took over the leadoff duties.  He responded by going 2 for 4 with three runs scored and an RBI.

• John Buck hit a grand slam in the second, his fourth homer in as many games.

• Daniel Murphy continued his strong start, going 4 for 5 with three runs scored and four RBI’s.

• David Wright drove in four and scored three.

• Scott Atchison tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh for the Mets.

Thoughts:

John Buck is playing out of his mind right now, creating a fantastic dilemma for the Mets.  It’s expected that Travis d’Arnaud will be called up before the summer, but Buck’s hot start allows them to delay things a bit as far as d’Arnaud is concerned.  Once d’Arnaud is promoted, it may be a better option for the Mets to trade Buck for something of value if the alternative is holding onto him as d’Arnaud’s backup.

Ruben Tejada continues to let the ball play him at short.  His defense around the bag has been fine, but he’s turned tons of routine grounders into adventures and/or errors.  Tejada needs to be more aggressive, plain and simple.

Next Up:

The Mets take on the Twins at 4:05 PM tomorrow at Target Field.  Matt Harvey will be on the hill.

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Apr 9, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets pitcher Dillon Gee (35) delivers to the plate during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

After an efficient, 8 pitch first inning, Dillon Gee was touched up in the second as the Phillies took a 4-0 lead.  After one out singles from Michael Young and Domonic Brown (who advanced to second on an error by Lucas Duda), John Mayberry, Jr. drove them both in with an RBI double over the third base bag to make it 2-0 Philadelphia.  After Gee recorded the second out, Cliff Lee drove in Mayberry with a seeing eye single to extend the lead to 3-0.  Jimmy Rollins promptly followed that with an RBI double to make it 4-0.

None of the hits off Gee in the second were hit hard.  The third inning was a different story, as Gee was greeted by back to back homers on consecutive pitches.  The damage was done by Ryan Howard and Michael Young and made it 6-0 Philadelphia.  After getting the first out of the inning, Gee allowed another homer to John Mayberry, Jr. for good measure.  That made it 7-0.

The Mets got on the board in the fourth.  After a Jimmy Rollins error allowed David Wright to reach first, John Buck smoked a two run homer (his fourth of the year) to right field to pull the Mets within 7-2.

Greg Burke entered in the fourth and gave up a two out RBI triple to Michael Young as the Phillies got one back and ballooned their advantage to 8-2.  The Mets immediately got that run back when Jordany Valdespin tripled with one out in the fifth and scored on a passed ball that appeared to cross up catcher Eric Kratz.  That made it 8-3 Phillies and closed out the scoring.

Highlights:

• Dillon Gee got the start for the Mets and unraveled in the second inning after an efficient first.  The Phillies didn’t hit him hard, but found enough holes to put four runs on the board and put the game out of reach early on.  Gee continued to struggle in the third when he gave up back to back homers to Ryan Howard and Michael Young, and another to John Mayberry, Jr.  Gee was removed after the third, making tonight’s start the shortest of his career.

• John Buck kept up his ridiculously hot start, going 2 for 4 with a two run homer.  He now has four homers and 14 RBI’s on the year.

• Daniel Murphy continued his early season extra hit barrage, doubling to right in the fifth.

• Cliff Lee went eight and two thirds for Philadelphia, giving up three runs.

Thoughts:

When your starting pitcher puts you in a 7-0 hole against Cliff Lee, it’s game over.  Dillon Gee gave up a four spot to the Phillies in the second inning, and allowed three homers in the third.  That was all she wrote.

Terry Collins made a curious in game move, double switching Lucas Duda out of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Greg Burke entered.  Seeking length out of Burke was understandable, but removing Duda (one of the team’s biggest power threats) in a game your team is trailing by five runs struck me as being quite odd.  It’s the second time Collins has done this with Duda recently.

Next Up:

The Mets (5-3) will look to take the rubber game from the Phillies (3-5) tomorrow at 7:05 PM.  Jeremy Hefner gets the start for the Mets.  He’ll be opposed by Kyle Kendrick.  The game can be seen on SNY and heard on WFAN 660 AM/101.9 FM.

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