Mets Jose Quintana comes up with gem when he needed it most

The growing segment of Mets fans who wanted a change in the starting rotation are going to have to wait.Jose Quintana isn’t going anywhere after this outing.The veteran left-hander, who had failed to record an out in the fifth inning in each of his previous two starts, picked a good time to deliver one of his best performances of the season, particularly with young pitchers Jose Butto and Christian Scott performing well in Triple-A.Quintana allowed just a Jackson solo homer across six sterling innings, leading the Mets to their fourth straight win, 5-1, over the Padres at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon.“I needed this kind of outing,” he said.A free agent to be, the 35-year-old Quintana allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out six in his best start in quite some time.The southpaw pitched to a 7.20 ERA in May and was shaky in his two June starts, giving up six earned runs to the Phillies and Diamondbacks over 7 ²/₃ innings.

He entered with a 5.29 ERA and 1.43 WHIP.He was significantly better against the Padres.Quintana made a concerted effort to work inside to keep them off the plate to set up his off-speed stuff, and it worked.

The six strikeouts were a season-high, and the two hits were a season-low.He recorded eight swings and misses, up from two in his previous outing.

The return of catcher Francisco Alvarez, who returned on this homestand after missing six weeks with a torn ligament in his left thumb, made a difference for him.“Amazing.I really missed him a lot,” Quintana said.

“Great energy, he always brings good ideas.He’s really special, I really like [pitching to] him.

… He’s always on top of the game.” Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+ Please provide a valid email address.By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

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