Seeing-eye singles
NEW YORK — Even against a makeshift lineup, Charlie Morton and the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn't stop the New York Mets from slapping one ball after another through the infield.
Josh Thole hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and the depleted Mets, minus Jose Reyes, beat Pittsburgh 7-3 on Monday night, dropping the Pirates to 0-8 at Citi Field.
“They just him ‘em where we weren't. I think they got eight groundball hits,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said.
Dillon Gee (5-0) pitched seven solid innings, striking out a career-high eight in the rookie's latest impressive outing, and New York had another productive day at the plate.
The Mets banged out a season-high 17 hits Sunday to prevent a three-game sweep by Philadelphia, then followed up with 15 against Morton and the Pirates.
“I was in a position that I just didn't want to be in very often,” Morton said. “Guys in scoring position, guys on the bases all the time. I feel like I pitched out of the stretch 90 percent of the time.”
This time, New York did its damage with only three regulars in the lineup for the opener of a four-game series. Reyes was placed on the bereavement list earlier in the day following his grandmother's death and left fielder Jason Bay was given a planned day off.
The only regular starters in the lineup were Thole, right fielder Carlos Beltran and center fielder Angel Pagan. Third baseman David Wright and first baseman Ike Davis are on the disabled list.
No problem, apparently. Daniel Murphy had three hits for the second consecutive day, while Pagan and fill-in shortstop Ruben Tejada also had three singles apiece.
“I noticed that they weren't really trying to do too much, and that's the kind of lineup that's tough,” Morton said. “I think I did a good job of minimizing it, but at the same time it makes it a long night.”
Chris Snyder hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the Pirates, then helped give back those runs with a pair of passed balls in the bottom half.
“The one curveball was a cross-up and the other one, I just butchered it,” Snyder said.
With the score tied at 3, Beltran drew a four-pitch walk from Daniel McCutchen (1-1) to start the seventh. Murphy followed with a single and, one out later, Thole doubled home both runners with a drive to deep right-center.
McCutchen entered with a 0.40 ERA, the lowest among NL relievers.
“I don't think he's going to finish the season with a 0.38 ERA,” Hurdle said.
Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect eighth for the Mets and Francisco Rodriguez worked a scoreless ninth — with help from Pagan, who made a terrific catch just in front of the fence near the 415-foot marker to rob Neil Walker of extra bases.
Gee allowed three runs and five hits while walking none in a matchup of young starters who have enjoyed early success this season. The right-hander retired nine in a row after Snyder's homer, including five straight strikeouts, and did not allow a ball out of the infield before Ronny Cedeno's one-out single in the fifth.
“That's just been one of the problems we've had all year, the swings and misses,” Hurdle said. “We have got to do a better job of putting the bat on the ball, making better outs in some instances, too.”
The Mets are 7-0 in Gee's starts, making him the only major league pitcher who has made at least five starts this season without his team losing any of them.
“He had a good mix going. He had a good changeup,” Snyder said.
Pittsburgh put catcher Ryan Doumit (left ankle sprain) and infielder Steve Pearce (right calf strain) on the 15-day disabled list and selected the contracts of catcher Dusty Brown and infielder Josh Harrison from Triple-A Indianapolis.
