(Neil Miller/Sportsday Wire)
The Mets were trailing the Atlanta Braves, 8-3, after 3 1/2 innings, but they came back on the strength of four home runs and excellent relief pitching to win, 10-8 to retain first place in the National League East.
Dillon Gee was activated from the Bereavement List after the death of his grandmother to get the spot start. Like Gee’s most recent outing on June 3, he lasted less than five innings and gave up a frightening number of runs – eight.
In the first inning, Gee gave up two hits and a run. Jace Peterson, who began the game with a single, blasted a three run homer to right in the second. Three singles led to an additional Atlanta run in the third. The Mets starter was removed from the contest with two out in the fourth, but not before three more runs were added to the Atlanta total. Gee yielded 11 hits and eight runs, the highest he had ever surrendered in his unfortunate outing.
Terry Collins, the Mets skipper, expressed his shock and bewilderment at Gee’s performance, “This guy’s been too successful to pitch like he did today. His stuff just wasn’t sharp today.”
Two factors allowed the Mets to come back and achieve the victory. Mets relievers, Alex Torres (0.1IP), Sean Gilmartin (2.0IP), Bobby Parnell (1.0IP), Hansel Robles (0.2IP) and Jeurys Familia (1.1IP) kept the Braves scoreless for 5.1 innings after Gee departed.
Gilmartin earned his first major league win and Familia earned his 19th save of the season.
Offensively, the comeback was fueled by home runs, four. That number tied the Mets high for the 2015 season and was the most they have hit in a single game at Citi Field. The most recent game in which the Mets have overcome a five run or higher deficit was on September 22, 2011, against the Cardinals.
The final seven runs scored by the Mets were all driven in by four baggers. Darrell Cecilliani led off the fourth with his first major league homer. Collins, not surprised, stated, “We always knew he could hit.” Two batters later, Dilson Herrera, who had an outstanding game in the field, hit his second home run of the season. Collins praised the young infielder in very strong terms, “We’re lucky we have him. If [Daniel] Murphy came back today, we couldn’t take him [Herrera] out of the lineup.”
Travis d’Arnaud, in his fourth game since leaving the disabled list, hit a two-run home run in the fifth frame. The Mets manager commented, “His bat in the lineup makes a change.”
The winning run was a three-run homer by Juan Lagares in the following frame, which brought the score to 10-8.
The Toronto Blue Jays visit Citi field for two games on Monday and Tuesday. The two teams then travel to Toronto for two more games.