Jose Quintana pitched seven shutout innings. Normally, that would be the lede to a game-winner for the Mets. But as good as Quintana pitched, the Mets’ offense was equally bad. They were one-hit in the game and the result was a 1-0 loss to the Nationals Thursday morning/afternoon in D.C. After taking the first two games of the series, the Mets had to settle for a split of the four-game set.
The announcers kept talking about how it was a warm day. That, combined with 95 pitches, led to Quintana’s removal after seven innings. Adrian Houser was called on to replace him. With the lefty Quintana out of the game, the Nats sent up Jesse Winker to pinch-hit. And Winker owns Houser. So, what happened? Well, Winker hit his sixth career homer off Houser for the game’s only run.
It’s easy to second-guess the move. If Quintana was not an option to pitch the eighth inning, perhaps the Mets could have gone to Reed Garrett, instead. Garrett had only thrown six pitches in the previous four games. But as Winker seems to thrive in big moments against the Mets, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered which RHP was on the mound.
Quintana lowered his ERA to 4.22 with this outing. Earlier this month, he had a 5.29 ERA. Quintana now has a 2.08 ERA in 39 IP with Francisco Alvarez behind the plate.
Jeff McNeil had the Mets’ only hit, a line drive single up the middle in the third inning.
Let’s Give some credit to a great game pitched by the national starter. Now we can move onto to Pittsburgh. Severino against rookie sensation Skenes
Like Stephen says, today we tip our cap to the opposing pitcher. No complaints, no blaming Diekman again, just acceptance. Nimmo hit the ball hard twice, but they caught it. Quintana was also excellent. Under .500 again……..
Looks like the Mets are falling asleep again.