Jose Quintana struggled for the third straight start as the Mets lost to the Orioles, 9-5, in the second game of a three-game series on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Here are the takeaways…
– Jose Quintana entered the game amid serious recent struggles, having posted a 6.89 ERA over his last three starts, spanning 15.2 innings. Those struggles continued.
Quintana allowed a sharp single to Austin Slater to open the game, but he was erased when Francisco Alvarez gunned him down trying to steal second base. Quintana found two-out trouble, though, walking Gunnar Henderson before serving up a bomb of a two-run homer to Anthony Santander (his 37th of the season) as the O’s took a quick 2-0 lead.
In the second, Quintana was greeted by a rocket of a triple off the bat of Colton Cowser that Brandon Nimmo couldn’t reel in while crashing into the left field wall. Later in the frame, former Met James McCann drove Cowser in with a sacrifice fly to center field that made it 3-0, Baltimore.
With the O’s up, 3-1, in the fourth, Quintana served up a leadoff double to right field and an infield hit that drove in a run before giving up a mammoth homer to McCann, who smacked a two-run shot into the second deck in left field to make it 6-1, Orioles.
Quintana’s final line: seven runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out three in 5.0 innings. His season ERA rose to 4.57.
With Quintana’s continued ineffectiveness, the absence of Kodai Senga — who is out for the remainder of the regular season — is becoming more glaring.
– The Mets looked overmatched early against Orioles starter Dean Kremer, with six of their first 10 batters striking out — including three looking. But Mark Vientos got them on the board in the third, ripping a two-out RBI double down the left field line to trim the Orioles’ lead to 3-1.
The Mets’ offense couldn’t do much of anything against Kremer (one run over 6.0 innings), but they erupted against Baltimore’s bullpen in the eighth inning (with an assist from a Henderson E6), plating four runs on the strength of doubles by Francisco Lindor and Nimmo, and a three-run homer off the bat of J.D. Martinez.
After the Mets trimmed the deficit to 7-5, Danny Young and bad defense combined to let the Orioles plate two runs in the top of the ninth to put the game away.
The damage was done when Nimmo failed to make a sliding catch in left field and uncorked a wild throw to home plate, which was followed by an errant throw by Young. In essence, a play that should’ve been a fly out ended with Baltimore plating two runs.
– Adam Ottavino, Ryne Stanek, and Adam Ottavino combined to toss three scoreless frames.
Game MVP: Dean Kremer
Kremer bent a bit in the third inning but was exceptional otherwise, giving the Orioles the necessary length that allowed their bullpen to hang on.
Highlights
Upcoming Schedule
The Mets wrap up their series with the Orioles on Wednesday at 1:10 p.m. on SNY.
Sean Manaea gets the start for New York, while Baltimore has not yet announced a starter.
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post