The Mets led after eight innings but fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks by a score of 5-4 on Sunday at Citi Field.
Here are the takeaways...
-The Mets needed 15 outs from their bullpen in this one, and Dedniel Nunez, Danny Young, Reed Garrett, and Adam Ottavino delivered the first 12, striking out nine D-backs along the way. But with the Mets up by a run in the ninth, Jake Diekman couldn't close the door. Diekman allowed a leadoff double followed by Ketel Marte's second home run of the game, a shot to center that put Arizona up 5-4. Diekman hung a slider with two strikes, and Marte didn't miss. The lefty recorded just one out before being pulled.
New York couldn't answer in their half of the ninth, suffering its sixth loss when leading after eight innings since May 1.
-Jose Quintana has been susceptible to the home run ball all season long, coming into the game with nine big flies allowed in 11 starts after allowing just five all of last season. The D-backs continued that trend in the first inning, with Marte and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. both tagging Quintana with solo shots.
Quintana lasted only 4.0 innings, throwing 84 pitches and just 47 for strikes. Quintana walked three batters and hit two more as he just never seemed comfortable on the mound. His season ERA raised a bit to 5.17.
-Trailing 3-0, the Mets put up a four-spot in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a couple unlikely hits. After a Pete Alonso RBI single (his 30th RBI of the season), Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back triples, with Martinez’s blast coming just a few feet from being a home run to dead center. How improbable were those back-to-back triples? The Mets had just two triples as a team all season long coming into the inning.
-After that four-run third, the Mets mustered just one hit the rest of the way (a DJ Stewart sixth-inning single). The Mets finished their 10-game homestand with a 3-7 record.
Who was the game MVP?
Arizona's Marte, who homered twice from the right side and delivered the winning hit in the ninth.