Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Get The Clippers

A better bad start for the still-bearded Dillon Gee got much worse after he left the game, but by that point, it seemed unlikely that the Mets were going to figure out a way to win this game anyway. Gee departed in favor of Josh Edgin, who's generally been patently awful against the Phillies no matter who the batter is, and Edgin continued to perform on the level, giving up a truly monstrous Grand Slam to Chase Utley that officially put the game out of reach. Gee's line ended up looking uglier than he probably pitched, but on the other hand, he's performed about as well as Edgin has against the Phillies over the course of his career too. One night after the Mets outclassed the Phillies, the Phillies returned the favor with a quick and forgettable 6-0 victory.

The Mets had no answer for Cole Hamels, which on the one hand is still kind of galling because it's Cole Hamels and he's a jerk, but on the other hand, he's still a quality pitcher and once in a while he's bound to get his act together against the Mets. Tuesday night, he did to the tune of 8 shutout innings, picking up a victory against a Mets team that he's performed about as well against over the course of his career as Dillon Gee or Josh Edgin has against his Phillies.

Not much redeeming to say about this game, other than I'll have to revisit the topic I brought up last time Gee started and got pasted in Milwaukee, which is that he's still sporting some stubble on his face. Gee's career arc seems to dictate that he's performed markedly better when clean shaven. I don't know about how he's fared against the Phillies, but I'd like to see some research into Gee's numbers vs. the Phillies when he's been bearded as opposed to when he's been clean shaven. I'd venture the guess that it holds to the form of Gee pitching better with a clean shave. What this means is that Justin Turner or Jon Niese or whoever's been handing out the shaving cream pies this season needs to go after Dillon Gee before he next takes the mound and get him with a pie, and then get some backup with a razor to chop off that moss and give Gee his mojo back. Just a suggestion.

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