Mets' Jose Quintana gets rocked, comeback attempt falls short in loss to Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MAY 3: Jose Quintana #62 of the New York Mets waits for a new ball after giving up a run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the third inning of a baseball game at Tropicana Field on May 3, 2024 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Mike Carlson
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the span of one outing, Jose Quintana went from virtually unhittable to very hittable. And that, in 15 words, is the story of the Mets’ 10-8 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday night.
Quintana, who gave up three hits and one run in eight innings on Sunday against the Cardinals, allowed 10 hits and eight runs in 2 2⁄3 innings against Tampa Bay.
“It was tough,” Quintana said. “A terrible night.”
Making Quintana’s outing more damaging for the Mets (16-16) is that he was staked to a 3-0 lead on Brett Baty’s roof-scraping three-run home run in the second inning. Baty added a solo homer in the ninth for his first multi-homer game, but the Mets’ spirited comeback attempt from a six-run deficit came up short.
Baty’s first blast was very high — launch angle of 43 degrees, which is a numbery way of saying it was very high — and Rays rightfielder Harold Ramirez lost it in the Tropicana Field roof.
Ramirez stood with his arms outstretched in medium right as the ball settled into the stands 378 feet from home plate after hitting the C-ring catwalk.
“It’s weird up there,” Baty said after his first career game at Tropicana Field.
Chants of “Let’s Go Mets” filled the ballpark, and not for the first or last time on Friday.
But Tampa Bay (15-18), which had lost eight of 10 coming in, responded with three runs in the bottom of the second and five more in the third.
The third inning was a particular nightmare for Quintana (1-3, 5.20 ERA). The first four Rays reached base, with former Met Amed Rosario driving in the go-ahead run with a single.
Alex Jackson made it 5-3 with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to deep center on which all three runners advanced. On the next pitch, Jonny DeLuca singled home two. Yandy Diaz’s two-out RBI single gave Tampa Bay an 8-3 lead and ended Quintana’s night.
Quintana became the first Mets starter to allow eight runs and 10 hits in less than three innings since current pitching coach Jeremy Hefner (July 19, 2013, vs. the Phillies).
“Not as crisp, as we saw,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Breaking ball wasn’t as sharp. He landed a couple early in the game, but then he just was missing his spots and the ball found holes today. A lot of singles [eight]. On a day where we needed length out of our starter because of where we were at, we just didn’t get much out of him.”
In the fourth, Randy Arozarena hit a 445-foot homer to left off Dedniel Nunez to make it 9-3. Launch angle? A mere 27 degrees.
The Mets closed to within 9-7 with a four-run fifth. Starling Marte had a sacrifice fly, Francisco Lindor rocked a two-run double and Pete Alonso added an RBI double.
Baty’s second homer traveled 421 feet (launch angle: 27 degrees) to the back of the rightfield stands. The Mets brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but Jason Adam struck out Marte on three pitches to end it.
“It’s pretty frustrating when you get that kind of support and you can’t take it,” Quintana said. “That’s a tough night for me.”
The Rays debuted their City Connect uniforms. They are called “Grit & Glow” and are black with neon green for the names (but, oddly, not the numbers, which are barely visible). According to the team website, the color scheme is “designed to simulate a black shirt that has been weathered in the Florida sun.”
The Rays play in a dome.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.