Gee tosses three scoreless, Young homers in tie
Right-hander posts three strikeouts; reliever Black surrenders lead in eighth
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- A late three-run rally by the Twins spoiled a shutout bid by Dillon Gee and the Mets in a Grapefruit League game that ended in a 3-3 tie on Saturday at Tradition Field. The teams agreed not to play extra innings.
Gee, expected to be the No. 3 starter in the Mets' rotation, had a commendable three-plus-inning outing in which the right-hander gave up five hits and allowed no runs. He recorded three strikeouts.
Dillon and relievers Dana Eveland and Gonzalez Germen shut out the Twins through seven innings, before Minnesota tied the game with three runs off Vic Black in the eighth. Eveland, who signed a Minor League contract in February and will likely start the season at Triple-A Las Vegas, struck out three and walked one in 2 1/3 hitless innings. Germen gave up only one hit during his scoreless 1 2/3-innings stint.
Chris Young connected for his first home run of the spring, a drive over the left-field wall, to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
The Mets added another run in the third when Matt Reynolds led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, hustled to third on a single by Matt den Dekker and scored on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Murphy.
Both runs were charged to Twins starter Scott Diamond, who went 3 2/3 innings. Diamond registered six strikeouts and allowed only three hits, but issued three walks.
Outfielder den Dekker started another Mets rally in the fifth when he singled, went to third on a single by Young and scored on a single by Josh Satin to give New York a 3-0 lead.
In the eighth inning, Black allowed three hits and issued two walks as the Twins knotted the score on Eduardo Escobar's two-run single and an RBI single by Jermaine Mitchell.
Up next: The Mets will send a split squad to Jupiter, Fla., on Sunday for a 1:05 p.m. ET game against the Cardinals. Left-hander Jon Niese will be on the mound for the Mets, and Adam Wainwright is scheduled to start for the Cardinals. Watch the game live on MLB.TV. The other Mets squad will face the Cubs for the second day in a row in Las Vegas, with Jenrry Mejia, Carlos Torres and Rafael Montero slated to pitch at 4:05 p.m.