NEW YORK -- The Mets have to be concerned about left-hander Jose Quintana. Each outing during August has gotten worse, and that was the case in Tuesday night’s 9-5 loss to the Orioles at Citi Field.

Quintana was behind the 8 ball in the first inning, when he allowed a two-run homer to Anthony Santander. By the fourth, the game seemed out of reach when former Met James McCann hit a monster two-run homer over the left-field wall to make it 6-1.

Quintana has now allowed 22 home runs in 134 innings. The last time he allowed that many in a season was in 2018, when he allowed 25 in 174 1/3 innings for the Cubs. Execution has been the problem for the 35-year-old veteran.

“Sometimes, I don’t hit my spots well like I have done before,” Quintana said. “When I make the adjustments, sometimes I’m behind in the count. My confidence is high. I’ll keep competing, keep fighting. This is the perfect time to keep the head up and help the team. I know they need me.”

Quintana allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings. During August, Quintana has allowed 19 runs in 20 2/3 innings (an 8.27 ERA) while walking 12.

There is nothing wrong with Quintana physically. He continues to check all of the boxes as far as strength and all the things the Mets do in the training room.

For now, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, Quintana is expected to make his next start against the Padres on Sunday.

“He has to continue to work, try to get through it, because we are going to need him,” Mendoza said. “Today, [he left] a couple of pitches up in the zone. Today, [he struggled with] pitch sequencing. We probably need to do a better job there. He threw a hanging breaking ball to Santander, and then he threw a fastball that looks like McCann is right on it.

“[Quintana] has to do a better job of keeping [the ball] in the park. Whether he is nibbling a little too much, getting behind in counts … when he comes in the zone, he is leaving pitches up and they are doing damage.”

For the Orioles, right-hander Dean Kremer earned his sixth win of the season. He kept the Mets off balance, pitching six innings of one-run ball. That run scored in the third inning, when Francisco Alvarez scored on a double by Mark Vientos.

“The movement on his pitches -- I thought the sinker was moving big time, especially the back-door [slider] to righties,” Mendoza said. “… I thought he was on today. The way he mixed all of his pitches and kept us off balance. But the movement, overall, was pretty sharp.”

After Kremer exited, the Mets made it a game in the eighth inning by scoring four runs off right-hander Burch Smith. J.D. Martinez highlighted the scoring with a three-run homer to make it a 7-5 game.

But New York’s defensive lapse in the ninth stopped the momentum.

With runners on first and second, one out and Danny Young on the mound, Gunnar Henderson blooped a single to left field. Brandon Nimmo dived, but the ball deflected off his glove, allowing Cedric Mullins to score from second. Nimmo’s throw home got past catcher Alvarez to Young backing up, and the pitcher threw the ball past third base and off the tarp down the left-field line, allowing Ryan Mountcastle to score and Henderson to advance to third.

Nimmo and Young were both charged with a throwing error.

“We just have to stop the play,” Mendoza said. “Nimmo makes an attempt on the diving play, can’t make the play and we throw the ball to home plate. At that point, you have to stop the play. Once you start throwing the ball all over the place, it’s not a good thing.”