PHILADELPHIA — Jose Quintana battled cold, wet, windy weather Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets picked him up to make it interesting but ultimately lost 7-5 to the Philadelphia Phillies in the third game of a four-game set.
The Phillies (86-69) took the series with the win and need one more Sunday to finish off a four-game sweep. Sunday’s game is in danger with Tropical Storm Ophelia bringing heavy rain and winds to the area this weekend. The two teams were able to make it through Saturday without any delays, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant for anyone on the field.
“It’s a tough day to play,” said manager Buck Showalter. “But it’s the same for both teams. They don’t change the weather conditions for one team. You’ve got a wet ball and you’ve got wind and every foul ball — you never know where it’s going to end up.”
The Mets (71-84) took a 2-0 lead in the second when Phillies shortstop Trea Turner failed to stop a sharp ground ball by Brett Baty. But the defending NL champs would come right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Bryce Harper led off with a home run and J.T. Realmuto reached on an error by Francisco Lindor. Nick Castellanos tripled to score Realmuto and tie the game.
It was somewhere around the second inning that Quintana decided to pitch down instead of pitching up. Seeing the way the ball was flying, the veteran knew he had to change course. It wasn’t ideal, but it was necessary.
“Right away I changed a little bit of my plan and said, ‘It’s a tough day to pitch up,’” Quintana said. “I started to throw a little more down and it changed my command over the plate a little bit, so I was going back and forth. Sometimes you get ground balls, sometimes my stuff played.”
Phillies first baseman Alec Bohm led off the third with a home run and then defensive miscues would cost the Mets again in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third, Turner chopped one to Lindor and he threw home. Johan Rojas beat the tag to give the Phillies a 4-2 lead.
With two outs, Harper pulled one down the right-field line and Pete Alonso deflected it into right field. Realmuto had a base hit to extend the inning and stole second.
Finally, Castellanos struck out to end the inning.
The Mets didn’t pin this one on Quintana.
“Couldn’t have picked a better guy to pitch with the conditions we had today,” Showalter said. “We didn’t make three plays behind him. I know we only scored on an error, but three really hurt his cause.”
Quintana (3-6) has been consistently good since starting his season in late July. But the veteran left-hander’s 12th start in a Mets uniform was maybe his roughest. He allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits over six innings, striking out 10.
“It was a big challenge,” Quintana said. “A tough day.”
The Mets made it interesting in the seventh scoring three to get within a run of tying the game. Rojas misread a fly ball by Brandon Nimmo in center field and it dropped for a two-run triple. Lindor drove Nimmo home with a fly ball to left field and Kyle Schwarber’s throw home was just a split-second late.
The Mets succeeded in knocking out starter Zack Wheeler (13-6) with the three-run seventh. The former Mets right-hander pitched well enough to earn the win, holding the Mets to only three earned runs (five unearned) over seven innings.
Right-hander Reed Garrett couldn’t lock things down, giving up a run in the seventh.
Left-hander Jose Alvardo converted the save (10). The Mets are 2-4 on their final road trip of the season with one left to play and right-hander Jose Butto on the mound to face left-hander Christopher Sanchez.
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