Mets’ Jose Quintana gives up three homers in loss to Atlanta Braves

Three big blasts and a walk in between the second two was all it took for the Atlanta Braves to dispense of the Mets on Friday night at Citi Field. A three-homer third inning led to another short outing for Jose Quintana and a 4-2 loss at the hands of the Braves in the series opener.

Francisco Lindor supplied the first run for the Mets, with a home run off Charlie Morton to lead off the seventh inning. Pete Alonso kept the ninth inning alive with an RBI single off Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias to log his second two-hit game in a row. However, that was as close as the Mets would get to chipping away at a four-run lead.

The Mets (18-19) haven’t been able to gain any momentum over the last few weeks, going 6-10 since ending their six-game April winning streak.

“It’s frustrating because I feel great,” Quintana said. “The Braves have a pretty good lineup but after two innings everything changed.”

Quintana cruised through the first two innings and got a double play to erase a single in the third before the home runs came from the top of the Atlanta order. First it was leadoff hitter Ronald Acuña Jr., the reigning NL MVP. Quintana had him at 1-2 but he worked the count full and drove a sinker 461 feet to straightaway center. The ball finally bounced beyond the Home Run Apple, leaving fans to pick up their jaws up off the ground.

But then fans gasped once again when the next hitter, Ozzie Albies, took Quintana deep to make it 2-0. Austin Riley was walked, a momentary reprieve to the homer-fest. Matt Olson then continued, taking the first pitch he saw — a sinker — and depositing it into the visitor’s bullpen in right-center field for a two-run shot.

The Braves (23-12) went up, 4-0.

“The one that he wishes he had that one back is the one to Olson where he was trying to go down and away,” Mendoza said. “He missed middle in.”

Quintana struck out Marcel Ozuna to end the inning but the damage had been done on the scoreboard and to his pitch count. He gave the Mets two more innings to help the bullpen, but with the Mets having had the last two days off because of a rainout and a scheduled off-day, the bullpen was fully loaded.

Mendoza said it simply came down to a few mistakes. Quintana chose the wrong pitch to throw Acuña and missed locations to Albies and Olson. Only three mistakes, but they were big ones.

“I’m not concerned,” Mendoza said. “He’s got to limit those long innings and the hard contact. But I thought this stuff was there today.”

Quintana suffered his fourth loss (1-4) with four earned runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three hitters. After pitching an eight-inning gem against the St. Louis Cardinals a few weeks ago, Quintana has allowed 12 earned runs in his last two starts.

The problem, Quintana said, is pitch execution. When he selects a pitch, he throws it with conviction. He’s been missing spots and failing to locate.

“I believe in the pitches I choose, it’s more location,” Quintana said. “I want to work on location and be better next time.”

Morton blanked the Mets over six innings before Lindor ended the veteran right-hander’s shutout bid, limiting the home team to three hits and seven strikeouts in the win (3-0). He did it with minimal use of his curveball.

“When you think of Charlie Morton, you think of a wipeout curveball but he didn’t throw many of those tonight,” Alonso said. “But he executed with everything else.”

Right-hander Yohan Ramirez pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three, making a triumphant return to the Mets after the club lost him off waivers last month.

Struggling right-hander Adrian Houser pitched out of the bullpen for the first time this season, stranding a runner at third in the eighth inning. He got help from third baseman Brett Baty in the form of an acrobatic catch over the tarp. After Riley reached on a force out, Olson popped one up to the third base side. Baty tracked it down and jumped backwards over the tarp to make the out. Riley made it to second and then reached third on a single by Ozuna, but Houser got Adam Duvall to roll over on a sinker and ground out to end the inning.

He pitched a scoreless ninth to give the Mets a chance to come back in the bottom of the inning. Starling Marte walked with one out and scored on Alonso’s single, and J.D. Martinez nearly tied the game with a two-run homer. But his fly ball drifted foul and Iglesias retired him to end the inning and post the save (10).

The game was delayed for more than an hour due to inclement weather. Fans watched the Knicks play the Indiana Pacers in their second-round series on the big screen while the tarp remained on the field.