Mets' offense unable to bail out Jose Quintana's ugly outing in 10-8 loss to Rays
The Mets (16-16) lost a slugfest on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-8, to fall back to .500 on the season.
Here are the takeaways...
-Following his masterful performance against the St. Louis Cardinals where he argued and won his case against manager Carlos Mendoza to let him face one more batter and get through eight innings of one-run ball, Jose Quintana looked just the opposite Friday night against the Rays.
Things started out harmlessly for the lefty who got through a scoreless first inning, but it went downhill from there.
Going back to the mound in the second – now with a 3-0 lead thanks to Brett Baty’s three-run shot off Aaron Civale in the top half of the inning – Quintana wasn’t able to secure a shutdown inning and coughed up the lead by allowing three runs to score on four hits in the bottom half. Three of the four hits had an exit velocity of more than 100 mph.
Quintana went out to start the third inning, but the shellacking continued. Four straight batters reached base to start the inning and produced a run while a sacrifice fly drove in another run to give Tampa Bay a 5-3 lead. Two more hits, sandwiched between a strikeout, brought home three more runs and all of a sudden the Rays had an 8-3 lead as Quintana’s night was finished. The 35-year-old was tattooed for eight earned runs on 10 hits in 2.2 innings, raising his season ERA from 3.48 to 5.20.
-Dedniel Nunez came in for long relief and other than a solo home run to a slumping Randy Arozarena in the fourth, he pitched well in his 2.1 innings of work, which included three strikeouts.
-As they have for much of the early season, the Mets did not go quietly as they produced a four-spot in the top of the fifth to get closer. Tyrone Taylor, continuing to excel in any role New York puts him in, got it started with a hard-hit double and after Baty struck out, Tomas Nido followed with a single before Brandon Nimmo walked to load the bases.
Starling Marte had a sacrifice fly, but the big hits belonged to Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso who each doubled to bring the Mets to within two runs. Alonso’s hit snapped a 0-for-17 skid that stretched back to April 27 when he hit his 200th career home run. Lindor finished 1-for-4.
Most of the offensive damage came from the bottom portion of the lineup with Baty leading the charge with three hits and Taylor finishing with two. Baty gave New York a chance in the top of the ninth with his second home run of the night, this one a solo shot. It was the third baseman’s first career multi-home run game as he now has three homers on the year.
-The Mets found a way to get the tying run to the plate against Jason Adam, but Marte struck out to end the game.
Game MVP: Amed Rosario
The former Met finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored against his old club to raise his batting average to .309.
Highlights
What's next
The Mets and Rays play the second game of their three-game weekend series on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
RHP Christian Scott makes his MLB debut for New York, opposed by Tampa Bay RHP Zack Littell (1-2, 3.27 ERA).
