4/9 Game Recap: Dillon Gee Pounded as Mets Fall to Phillies 8 to 3

After battering a diminished Roy Halladay in the opener of the series, the Mets stacked the lineup with right handed hitters (save for Lucas Duda) as they took on Cliff Lee tonight in Philadelphia.

Apr 9, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Mets pitcher

(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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