The Mets couldn’t finish off a three-game sweep, falling to the Chicago White Sox 6-2 on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
Here are some key takeaways…
– Jose Quintana‘s Mets debut got off to a little bit of a shaky start, as he allowed three straight singles in the first inning to put the White Sox up 1-0. But after that 21-pitch first inning, Quintana settled in pretty well.
The lefty allowed two earned runs over the first two innings, but he followed that up with three scoreless frames. In total, Quintana went 5.0 innings scattering six hits while striking out three. He did not walk a batter and threw 77 pitches, including 53 for strikes.
All in all, it was a promising debut for the veteran, who looks to add some needed depth to a Mets rotation that has been inconsistent in 2023.
– The Mets bats couldn’t get anything going against the hard-throwing right-hander Michael Kopech through the first 4.2 innings, mustering just one hit. With two outs in the fifth though, Omar Narvaez launched his first homer as a Met, a solo shot which cut the Sox lead to 2-1.
Kopech, who came into the game with a 4.47 ERA, ended up going 5.2 innings while allowing just one run on two hits. The Mets could not take advantage of his erratic pitching, as he walked four compared to five strikeouts, but still held New York to just one run.
-After Quintana came out of the game, the wheels fell off for the Mets in the top of the sixth inning. With Drew Smith on the mound, the inning got started with a Pete Alonso error at first base, and things snowballed from there. Smith went on to allow four runs, two of them earned, on three hits while allowing just two outs. Just like that, a 2-1 deficit became a 6-1 deficit.
– After grounding into a double play to end the third inning, Tommy Pham was pulled from the game. Pham appeared to slow up as he made his way towards first base, and then reached down at his right leg after he hit the bag. With the Mets placing Starling Marte on the IL with migraines earlier in the day, any prolonged absence for Pham could leave the Mets very shorthanded in the outfield.
– Buck Showalter used Francisco Alvarez as the starting DH for just the fourth time this season, and the rookie finished the day 0-for-3.
– Some good news for the Mets, Alonso bounced an RBI single through the right side in the eighth inning, scoring Brandon Nimmo and making it a 6-2 game. Alonso came into the game in the midst of a huge slump, having gone 1-for-his-last-26.
Highlights
What’s next
The Sox change from White to Red as the Mets head to Boston for a three-game series, starting on Friday at 7:10 pm on SNY.
Kodai Senga is scheduled to face right-hander Cutter Crawford.