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Gee seeks to rebound in Mets' finale with Rangers

Jun 26, 2011 - 2:44 PM (Sports Network) - Fresh off his first loss of the season Dillon Gee will head back to the mound this afternoon when he tries to lead the New York Mets to a victory over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a three-game set at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Gee was riding a five-game winning streak entering his June 15th start against Atlanta, but he was unable to make it six in a row because of a rain delay that took him out after four innings of work.

The poor weather might have knocked Gee out of his grove, because the young hurler then proceeded to lose to Oakland in his next outing. Control was the problem for Gee in the matchup against the A's, as he allowed four runs on three hits and six walks. He once again did not make it through the fourth inning, but this time it was because of his own performance.

Gee, who has never faced the Rangers, currently has a 3-0 ledger in five road starts, but he has not been untouchable and comes into this game with a 4.15 earned run average in foreign stadiums.

The Rangers will try to bounce back from an ugly game yesterday by sending Derek Holland to the hill. Holland has pitched better of late, winning three of his last five starts.

The last time he was on the mound, the southpaw allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings against Houston. Holland walked three, but struck out four.

The Ohio native is 3-0 in seven home starts this season, but he has been blessed with great run support because in those outings he has an ERA of 6.10.

On Saturday, Carlos Beltran hit a two-run triple and scored during a three-run first inning, Jonathon Niese (7-6) threw 5 2/3 innings and New York evened the three-game series with their third win in four games.

Niese, though, was removed during the sixth inning for precautionary reasons because of a rapid heartbeat.

"I just kind of overheated a little bit. I was breathing heavy," said Niese, who yielded two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven. "I just couldn't catch my breath."

The Mets scored six runs in three innings against sputtering Texas starter Alexi Ogando (7-3). Later, their first eight batters reached base during an eight-run sixth.

"How many starts do you get (in a season)? Thirty? He had three (bad ones) in a row," said Rangers manager Ron Washington. "I hope he makes an adjustment in his next start. But today I think you have to give the New York Mets credit for the way they swung the bats."

The Rangers showed life with back-to-back solo homers from Adrian Beltre and Michael Young in the fourth inning, but didn't have enough offense to avoid their third loss in eight games.

New York has won five of the eight all-time meetings in this series. This, though, is the team's first trip to Arlington since 2003.