New York Mets vs Pittsburgh Pirates MLB Live Streaming 5/10 Radio Commentary Audio Feed Online Coverage Major League Baseball Experts Review: The New York Mets have been feeling a lot better about their starting pitching lately after a rocky start. They've felt great any time Dillon Gee has taken the hill in 2011.
The Mets haven't lost any of Gee's eight starts and the right-hander has won four straight outings heading into Friday night's series opener in Pittsburgh, where he'll face the Pirates trying to become baseball's first rookie starter to open 7-0 since 2006.
New York's starters were 16-20 with an unimpressive 4.48 ERA through May 25, but lately they've been coming through consistently. Jonathon Niese held Milwaukee to one run over 7 2/3 innings in Thursday's 4-1 win, delivering the team's sixth consecutive quality start as the Mets (30-32) bounced back after blowing a four-run eighth-inning lead in Wednesday's 7-6 loss.
"This team is very, very resilient. This team was flat last night, they just came back today and just realized today was another day," manager Terry Collins said.
Mets starters are 6-2 with a 2.78 ERA over the past 14 games.
The Mets have every reason to believe their quality start streak will continue Friday. Gee (6-0, 3.33 ERA) has limited opponents to a .161 batting average and posted a 2.28 ERA during his four-start winning streak.
He held the Pirates (30-31) to three runs over seven innings -- striking out a career-high eight -- in a 7-3 win at Citi Field on May 30, then followed that with seven innings of four-hit ball as he outpitched then-major league ERA leader Jair Jurrjens in a 5-0 victory over Atlanta on Saturday.
"I was really impressed because it was a game that we needed some zeros," Collins said. "He's proved that he can pitch at this level and have success. All he does is give you quality outings."
Gee can only hope to follow in the footsteps of the last rookie starter to go 7-0. The Los Angeles Angels' Jered Weaver went 9-0 with a 1.95 ERA in his first 12 starts upon arriving in the majors in May 2006.
If the Pirates deliver the same type of meek effort with which they ended their series against Arizona, Gee should get to 7-0. With a chance to sweep the Diamondbacks and climb above .500 at the franchise's latest point in a season since 1999, Pittsburgh could muster only five singles Thursday in a 2-0 loss.
"We had a lot of at-bats where we just battled tonight," outfielder Xavier Paul told the Pirates' official website.
Gee's mound opponent should look familiar. Charlie Morton (6-2, 2.52) gave up three runs -- one earned -- and 11 hits over six innings before leaving without a decision against the rookie last month, though that didn't stop Collins from offering some high praise.
"Morton lived up to everything I've heard about him and saw about him," Collins said. "That is as good a sinker as I've seen in a long time."
Morton, who leads the majors in ground ball percentage (78.1), got a better result Saturday. The right-hander held Philadelphia to two runs over seven innings of a 6-3 win.
"Charlie's the man," Pirates infielder Brandon Wood said. "I don't want to face him, I'll tell you that."
Morton's sinker hasn't fooled Angel Pagan (5 for 6) or Ruben Tejada (3 for 3), but any pitch seems to be enough to get former Pirates outfielder Jason Bay out these days. Bay, mired in a career-worst 0-for-23 slump, was benched Thursday and Collins said he'll likely get Friday off as well.
7:05 PM ET, June 10, 2011
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Regular Season Series
Series tied 2-2 (as of Fri 6/10)
Mon 5/30 @NYM 7, PIT 3 Recap
Tue 5/31 PIT 5, @NYM 1 Recap
Wed 6/1 PIT 9, @NYM 3 Recap
Thu 6/2 @NYM 9, PIT 8 Recap
Jun 10, 2011 NYM (Gee) @ PIT (Morton) 7:05 PM ET
Jun 11, 2011 NYM (Dickey) @ PIT (McDonald) 7:05 PM ET
Jun 12, 2011 NYM (Capuano) @ PIT (Correia) 1:35 PM ET
Jun 13, 2011 NYM (Pelfrey) @ PIT (Maholm) 7:05 PM ET
The Mets haven't lost any of Gee's eight starts and the right-hander has won four straight outings heading into Friday night's series opener in Pittsburgh, where he'll face the Pirates trying to become baseball's first rookie starter to open 7-0 since 2006.
New York's starters were 16-20 with an unimpressive 4.48 ERA through May 25, but lately they've been coming through consistently. Jonathon Niese held Milwaukee to one run over 7 2/3 innings in Thursday's 4-1 win, delivering the team's sixth consecutive quality start as the Mets (30-32) bounced back after blowing a four-run eighth-inning lead in Wednesday's 7-6 loss.
"This team is very, very resilient. This team was flat last night, they just came back today and just realized today was another day," manager Terry Collins said.
Mets starters are 6-2 with a 2.78 ERA over the past 14 games.
The Mets have every reason to believe their quality start streak will continue Friday. Gee (6-0, 3.33 ERA) has limited opponents to a .161 batting average and posted a 2.28 ERA during his four-start winning streak.
He held the Pirates (30-31) to three runs over seven innings -- striking out a career-high eight -- in a 7-3 win at Citi Field on May 30, then followed that with seven innings of four-hit ball as he outpitched then-major league ERA leader Jair Jurrjens in a 5-0 victory over Atlanta on Saturday.
"I was really impressed because it was a game that we needed some zeros," Collins said. "He's proved that he can pitch at this level and have success. All he does is give you quality outings."
Gee can only hope to follow in the footsteps of the last rookie starter to go 7-0. The Los Angeles Angels' Jered Weaver went 9-0 with a 1.95 ERA in his first 12 starts upon arriving in the majors in May 2006.
If the Pirates deliver the same type of meek effort with which they ended their series against Arizona, Gee should get to 7-0. With a chance to sweep the Diamondbacks and climb above .500 at the franchise's latest point in a season since 1999, Pittsburgh could muster only five singles Thursday in a 2-0 loss.
"We had a lot of at-bats where we just battled tonight," outfielder Xavier Paul told the Pirates' official website.
Gee's mound opponent should look familiar. Charlie Morton (6-2, 2.52) gave up three runs -- one earned -- and 11 hits over six innings before leaving without a decision against the rookie last month, though that didn't stop Collins from offering some high praise.
"Morton lived up to everything I've heard about him and saw about him," Collins said. "That is as good a sinker as I've seen in a long time."
Morton, who leads the majors in ground ball percentage (78.1), got a better result Saturday. The right-hander held Philadelphia to two runs over seven innings of a 6-3 win.
"Charlie's the man," Pirates infielder Brandon Wood said. "I don't want to face him, I'll tell you that."
Morton's sinker hasn't fooled Angel Pagan (5 for 6) or Ruben Tejada (3 for 3), but any pitch seems to be enough to get former Pirates outfielder Jason Bay out these days. Bay, mired in a career-worst 0-for-23 slump, was benched Thursday and Collins said he'll likely get Friday off as well.
