Opening the first game of the final series of their season, the Mets lost to the Brewers at Citi Field on Thursday night. In his last start of the year, Dillon Gee was just so-so, and the Mets’ lineup was only able to eke out a couple of runs over nine innings.
Gee really only had one bad inning, but it was bad enough that it put the Mets behind for good. In the second, Gee issued the only two walks of his start and allowed three singles, which resulted in four runs for the Brewers. In total, Gee went six innings, gave up those four runs, walked two, and struck out two.
With the outing, Gee finishes the year with a 3.62 ERA and 4.00 FIP, both of which are decent numbers by the standards of Major League Baseball in 2013. He was particularly effective since his 12-strikeout start against the Yankees at the end of May, an encouraging sign for his future, and he set a career high for innings pitched with 199.
The Mets got on the board in the bottom of the third after Eric Young drew a one-out walk, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error on the steal, and came in to score when Daniel Murphy grounded out. But Johnny Hellweg, a pitcher who lacks control, then hit David Wright in the head with a pitch. The ball got all helmet and wasn’t the most direct of blows, but it was and always will be unsettling to see a player get hit in the head with a pitch. Wright walked off under his own power and was reportedly just fine after the game.
From there, the game was pretty quiet on both sides. The Brewers didn’t score again against Gee or the Mets’ bullpen. The Mets didn’t score again, either, until Josh Satin led off the ninth with a pinch-hit home run. But they weren’t able to score again despite a two-out double by Justin Turner, who had taken over for Wright after he left the game.
Although he didn’t factor into any run scoring on the evening, Travis d’Arnaud had a very good night, going 2-for-3 with a walk. He’s been a much better hitter over the past couple of weeks than he was immediately upon his promotion to the big leagues.
SB Nation Coverage
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Brew Crew Ball Gamethread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Travis d’Arnaud, +9.8% WPA
Big losers: Dillon Gee, -21.6% WPA, Mike Baxter, -16.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Dnaiel Murphy’s leadoff double in the seventh, +6.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mike Baxter’s inning-ending GIDP in the seventh, -12.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -18.2% WPA
Total batter WPA: -31.8% WPA
GWRBI!: Scooter Gennett