Jose Quintana struggles, Mets' offense silenced in 5-2 series-opening loss to Giants
The Mets were defeated by the San Francisco Giants, 5-2, on Monday night in the series opener of a three-game set at Oracle Park.
Here are the takeaways...
- Jose Quintana's early season struggles with command continued in this one and the Giants were able to make him pay, as they scored twice in both the second and third innings on run-scoring hits from Nick Ahmed and Matt Chapman. The southpaw settled in after that, retiring eight of the next 10 hitters he faced to get through a pair of scoreless innings.
Quintana came back out for the sixth but he was jumped for a solo home run on the very first pitch he threw, ultimately bringing his night to a disappointing end. He suffered his second loss of the season after allowing five runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out four across five innings of work.
- Pete Alonso came into the game with terrific career numbers at Oracle Park, and that continued, as he picked up a pair of hits including a solo homer in the fifth to snap a 14-inning scoreless drought for the Mets. It was the slugger's seventh long ball of the season -- which is tied with Boston's Tyler O'Neill for third in MLB -- and the 199th of his career.
- Aside from Alonso and Starling Marte, who had two hits of his own and his sixth stolen base of the season, the rest of the offense was held down by Giants starter Keaton Winn, who struck out six and allowed just the one run on four hits across six strong innings. New York appeared to be getting on track during their six-game winning streak, but they've scored just two runs over their last two games.
- Michael Conforto has gotten off to a very strong start this season. The sweet-swinging lefty enjoyed a nice night at the plate against his former team, going 2-for-2 with a solo home run just shy of McCovey Cove. Wilmer Flores didn't enjoy as much success at the plate, going 0-for-3, but he did make a nifty snag at first base to rob Omar Narvaez of a hit.
- Sean Reid-Foley worked around a pair of walks en route to a scoreless inning in his first big league outing since returning from a right shoulder impingement, and lefty Josh Walker worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.
- As they've done all season, the Mets' offense showed some fight in the ninth as Brandon Nimmo drew a leadoff walk and after advancing to third on a Flores fielding error, he scored on a wild pitch. After Brett Baty drew a two-out walk, DJ Stewart came to the plate representing the tying run, but Camilo Doval got him to ground out to end the game.
MVP of the Game: Michael Conforto
While Conforto's homer wasn't the difference in this one, he enjoyed a strong day at the plate in just his fourth career game against the team that drafted him.
After going deep and reaching base twice during the win, the 31-year-old outfielder now has five homers and an .817 OPS through 23 games this season.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
Luis Severino and ace right-hander Logan Webb face off when the Mets and Giants return to action on Tuesday at 9:45 p.m.