Mendoza confident in Quintana amid tough stretch

NEW YORK -- After watching his team lose to the Braves, 4-2, at Citi Field on Friday night, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he is not concerned about left-hander Jose Quintana.

Maybe he should be.

With Kodai Senga out with a shoulder injury, Quintana was supposed to be the anchor of the rotation. After all, he was named the Opening Day starter against the Brewers in March. Lately, however, Quintana is pitching like he should be out of the rotation.

Quintana was coming off his worst outing as a member of the Mets last Friday, allowing eight runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Rays. Seven days later, it looked like Quintana was going to rebound against Atlanta, as he retired six of the first seven hitters he faced. But it fell apart in a nightmarish third inning. The Braves went on a home run tear, all kicking off with two outs and nobody on base.

Up stepped Ronald Acuña Jr. The 2023 National League MVP had only two home runs entering the game, but he swung at a 3-2 pitch and hit a monster home run into the batter’s eye in center field to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. According to Statcast, the ball traveled 461 feet.

“It felt really good. I’m not going to lie,” Acuña said through an interpreter. “It’s been a while since I felt that way. It was nice to regain that feeling. But the most important thing and most satisfying thing was to be able to help the team win.”

Ozzie Albies followed and lifted a 1-0 pitch into the left-field seats to give Atlanta a two-run lead. After Austin Riley reached base on a walk, Matt Olson swung at the first pitch -- a sinker -- and hit a two-run shot over the right-center-field wall.

“That pitch was right in the middle [of the plate],” said Quintana, adding that he would take the pitch back if he could do it over again.

It was Olson’s first home run since April 7th against the D-backs. It also marked the first time Quintana has allowed three homers in an inning.

Dating back to the game against the Rays, Quintana has allowed 12 runs in 7 2/3 innings, and his ERA has jumped from a respectable 3.48 on April 28th to 5.44 after the start against Atlanta. However, Mendoza said he is not worried about Quintana. The skipper pointed out that other than the third inning, Friday’s game wasn’t bad for the left-hander.

“I thought he had life on his sinker,” Mendoza said. “He had a good changeup that he threw. I thought he did a good job…. I thought the stuff was there today. I thought the fastball had life.”

Quintana’s face said it all. He knew the third inning turned the game in Atlanta’s favor.

“It wasn’t good. After two outs, the game changed,” Quintana said. "A couple of mistakes. … A couple of pitches were flat. … It’s frustrating. The arm feels great.”

In the future, Quintana knows what he has to do in order to get more zeros on the board.

“I have to execute better. Be more consistent. Sometimes, we miss spots. That’s going to happen. That's part of the game. In some situations, I expect to execute better,” Quintana said. “I just want to keep going and have more consistency in the zone.”