Jose Quintana gives up three home runs as Mets fall to Braves, 4-2
On a rainy night in Flushing, the Braves rained down three home runs to defeat the Mets, 4-2, on Friday.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Braves offense this season has been the powerhouse it was a year ago, but the usual suspects got to Jose Quintana. The Mets left-hander was cruising after two innings, but the third is where he let the long ball get to him.
Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson all went deep to give the Braves a 4-0 lead. According to the broadcast, Quintana has pitched 1838 innings in his career and the third was the first time he's given up three home runs in a single inning.
Quintana would settle down and grind out five innings (85 pitches/48 strikes) while giving up four runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three batters.
-Opposing Quintana was Charlie Morton. The crafty veteran limited runners on base and was efficient with his pitches. The only blemish on his stat line was a monstrous 391-foot homer from Francisco Lindor that went 107 mph off the shortstop's bat in the seventh inning.
Morton pitched seven innings (99 pitches/65 strikes) giving up the lone run on three hits, and one walk while striking out seven batters.
-Lindor continues to hit the ball better. He finished 1-for-4 with that home run. Over his last five games, including Friday, Lindor is 5-for-21 with two home runs and four RBI.
Pete Alonso, who went 2-for-5 with a homer in the Mets' last game, finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI single.
Brandon Nimmo picked up a single, his only hit of the game, to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
-Adrian Houser made his first relief appearance of the season since being put in the bullpen last week. He bent but didn't break in the eighth inning as he gave up a hit and a walk, but did not allow a run to score. He was helped by a nifty play by Brett Baty who dove on top of the rolled-up tarp on the left field side to grab a fly ball for the second out of the inning.
Houser would walk one batter in the ninth, his second inning of work, but that was it. In total, Houser pitched two innings, giving up one hit, two walks and, more importantly, zero runs allowed.
-The Mets made it interesting in the ninth inning. Starling Marte walked and went to second on defensive indifference. Alonso singled with two outs to score Marte and make it 4-2. J.D. Martinez followed by launching a long flyball that just went foul behind the left field pole. Martinez almost walked on a 3-1 pitch that was high but called a strike. The DH lofted a fly ball to center to end the threat and the game.
Game MVP: Charlie Morton
The 40-year-old right-hander dominated the Mets, going seven innings relatively easily while giving up just three hits and one walk. Aside from the Lindor blast, the Mets had no answer for Morton.
Highlights
What's next
The Mets continue their three-game series with the Braves on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.
Christian Scott (0-0, 1.35 ERA) will make his Citi Field debut and will be opposed by Max Fried (2-1, 4.23 ERA).
