Gooden Pitches Six Shutout Innings in Final Tuneup Before Return to Mets

Dwight Gooden allowed one hit in six innings Sunday during his final minor league outing before returning to the mound for the New York Mets.

Gooden struck out 10 and walked 3, leading the Tidewater Tides to a 1-0 International League victory over the Maine Guides. He was taken out after six innings of the seven-inning game when he reached his limit of 100 pitches on a hot day.

Former major leaguer Ron Roenicke got the only hit off Gooden, a single in the second inning. Tidewater’s Andre David homered for the only run in the seventh inning.

Gooden said he was pleased by his performance, his fifth minor league appearance since leaving a drug rehabilitation center April 29. He is scheduled to make his first major league start of the season Friday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I felt real good,” he said in a statement released by Mets’ spokesman Dennis D’Agostino. “I got ahead of the hitters early, right from the get-go, and that was the key. This is the best I’ve felt in the five starts I’ve made (in the minors).”