Jose Quintana hit hard again, ex-Met James McCann homers in loss to Orioles
Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo misplays a during the ninth inning of a game against the Orioles on Tuesday at Citi Field. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Brandon Nimmo was back in the Mets’ lineup Tuesday night, a day after sitting out with a right shoulder injury. But his reappearance was upstaged by another return.
Orioles catcher James McCann, in his first game at Citi Field since being traded in December 2022 in the middle of a four-year $40.6 million contract, brought pain to his former team at Citi Field with a two-run homer and three RBIs. The Mets lost 9-5 and re-learned an proverb from the Baltimore-based TV show “The Wire.”
You come at the king, you best not miss.
The Mets (65-61) took a good shot Monday, defeating the Orioles on a walk-off home run by Francisco Alvarez. They took another shot Tuesday with a four-run eighth inning to try and rally from behind.
But a pair of errors in the ninth squelched any hopes of a comeback. A single by Gunnar Henderson escaped a diving attempt by Nimmo and then his errant throw home allowed Cedric Mullins to score.
That was followed by throwing error from reliever Danny Young that allowed Ryan Moutcastle to score and make it 9-5. The Orioles (74-53) are tied for the American League’s best record with the Yankees’ loss Tuesday.
“At that point, we just got to stop the play,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Once you start throwing the ball all over the place, it’s not a good thing. So we just got to stop it there and limit the damage.”
Nimmo was 1-for-4 with an RBI double in the eighth. He tried to make a play on the ball while protecting his shoulder, which he injured on a diving catch Sunday.
Instead, the ball tailed away from him and led to the Mets’ final series of mistakes.
“When you’re timid towards things that’s when mistakes happen. And it was really the only thing that I was worried about tonight,” Nimmo said. “Swinging felt good. Throwing feel good before but I want to avoid diving.
“I make that play, I feel like, 99 out of 100 times but I was trying to get down as soft as I could.”
It also didn’t help that starter Jose Quintana (6-9) had another rough outing. In five innings, Quintana allowed seven runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs.
McCann hit one of them, a 408-foot, fourth-inning blast that went into the second deck. He added a sacrifice fly in the second to drive in rookie Colton Cowser.
The Mets signed McCann in December 2020 and are still on the hook for some of his salary this year.
It was the 22nd home run Quintana allowed this season, the most since allowing a career high 25 in 2018. He fell into an early 2-0 hole in the first allowing a home run to Anthony Santander, 402 feet on a hanging curveball.
“I’ve been struggling with my command the last start. I think that’s the issue,” said Quintana, who also walked two. “Today was way better. A couple plays, I couldn’t get out. It’s tough once you get a bad start in the first inning.”
Nimmo helped the Mets rally in the eighth with a double that scored Francisco Lindor. Lindor, who finished 2-for-4, got on base with a one-out double and advanced to third after Mark Vientos reached first on an error by Henderson.
That set the stage for J.D. Martinez, who fired up the announced crowd of 34,225 with a three-run home run to centerfield, his 14th of the season.
It wasn’t enough. The Mets mustered just two hits against Orioles starter Dean Kremer (6-9), who struck out seven in six innings. After striking out 14 times Monday, the Mets added 11 more Tuesday. Harrison Bader struck out twice after entering as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.
Jesse Winker epitomized the Mets’ frustration in his first at-bat. He not only struck out to end the second but flipped his bat backward over his head and threw his helmet down on home plate.
Vientos doubled home Alvarez in the third inning. It was the lone jolt of energy until the eighth when Lindor got his 32nd double.
It also extended Vientos’ hitting streak to eight games and home hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a Mets player this season.
Yet it came as little consolation to a defeat filled with mental mistakes.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
