Mets’ Jose Quintana hurt by Dodgers’ patient approach in rough outing

The game plan and stuff looked to be about the same for Jose Quintana, who attempted to lure Dodgers hitters the way he had Brewers and Phillies bats. 

But the bait had gone stale. 

Quintana had thrived in the postseason and in the final six weeks of the season largely by throwing appealing pitches that would fall out of the zone and often result in regrettable swings.

The Dodgers proved far more patient, which proved to be a large issue. 

The veteran lefty, who had not allowed an earned run in two postseason starts, was ineffective in the Mets’ 10-2, Game 4 demolition by the Dodgers at Citi Field that pushed his club to the brink in the NLCS. 

Quintana lasted just 3 ¹/₃ innings in which he was charged with five runs on five hits and four walks.

He did not seem particularly wild but lived just off the plate and waited for swings that came against the Brewers (in which he went six scoreless innings) and the Phillies (five innings allowing one unearned run). 

Instead, his sinker was laid off, so he struggled to get ahead of hitters.

His curveball was not an out pitch, the Dodgers swinging at seven and missing none.

The Dodgers were ready for a changeup that baffled others. 

Quintana’s outing started terribly and did not improve much, the second pitch of the game a 1-0 sinker that Shohei Ohtani demolished for a home run into the Mets’ bullpen, a bullet of a drive that jumped off his bat at 117.8 mph.

Quintana had not allowed a homer since Aug. 20, a stretch of eight consecutive outings without being victimized by a long ball. 

The 35-year-old got through the rest of the first inning and second before the game began going sideways in the third.

Ohtani walked and Mookie Betts singled before Tommy Edman waited on a Quintana curveball and smacked an RBI double into left-center.

Enrique Hernandez’s hard-hit, infield single scored another for a 3-1 deficit.

Quintana did well to escape with no further damage in a 37-pitch inning, but the fourth inning buried the Mets further. 

Chris Taylor reached on a one-hop bullet that Mark Vientos fielded but could not record the out before Quintana walked Ohtani, the superstar winning the head-to-head three times.

Both runners came around to score against Jose Butto, who entered and quickly served up a two-run double to Betts for a 5-2 hole. 

If that is it for Quintana’s Mets career, the pending free agent would be remembered fondly for two mostly strong seasons.

This year finished with an impressive sprint, but it might have culminated with a flop.