Jose Quintana, Pete Alonso prop Mets past Cardinals

MLB

With Mike Puma

August 17, 2023 | 10:38 pm

ST. LOUIS — Jose Quintana will never win a top-speed contest, but when it comes to the art of pitching, he has a lot of maneuvering that others can only hope to emulate.

Nearly a month after finally joining the Mets’ rotation following spring training rib surgery, the veteran left-hander is maintaining a steady pace and allaying any concerns about his status through 2024.

He dominated the seventh inning Thursday night against the Cardinals before fading, but with the help of the bullpen, the Mets held on for a 4-2 win at Busch Stadium.

It was the fifth straight start in which Quintana, who picked up his first win for the Mets, went at least six innings and allowed three earned runs or fewer.

He went six extra innings and gave up two earned runs on three hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

Quintana topped 91.5 mph with his four-seam fastball and threw the other three pitches (sinker, curveball, changeup) about as often.

“He’s a guy who chases command instead of speed, and in a lot of ways he’s kind of a reversal,” manager Buck Showalter said.

Drew Smith, Grant Hartwig and Trevor Gott combined to record the final nine outs as the Mets (56-66) won for the fourth time in five games.

The Mets mustered enough offense to defeat Adam Wainwright (3-8) in his final career start against them. the 41-year-old plans to retire after the season.

Pete Alonso’s two-run homer in the fourth inning, his 37th of the season, did most of the damage.

Tim Locastro’s solo homer in the ninth against John King gave the Mets a cushion.

“[Wainwright] it’s one of my favorites,” said Quintana, who spent two months with the Cardinals last season. “It was a short amount of time I spent with him last year, but it was quality time. I learned a lot from him and especially how to be positive throughout the season.”

Quintana was knocked out in the seventh after Tyler O’Neal led off with a leadoff homer and a walk on singles by Jordan Walker and Andrew Knisner put the tying runs on base and brought in Smith. escaped with the lead intact.

The lefty Quintana retired the first 10 batters he faced before allowing a single to Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth. The Cardinals then loaded the bases on walks to Willson Contreras and O’Neill before Quintana escaped, striking out Walker.

Alonso’s second homer in as many days gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Alonso, who thought he had pulled ball four on the previous pitch, followed Jeff McNeil’s double (which just missed the right field fence) with a blast into the center field grass to extend his team’s lead in homers and RBI (91 ). He is third in MLB in homers behind Matt Olson and Shohei Ohtani.

The Mets used a two-out rally in the fifth to extend their lead to 3-0. After Rafael Ortega and Brandon Nimmo walked, Francisco Lindor delivered an RBI double. Wainwright came back to retire McNeil before it could get messy.

O’Neill launched a homer to left field leading off the seventh that pulled the Cardinals within 3-1. The homer was the first Quintana has allowed in his six starts this season.