Jose Quintana twirls another gem as Mets outlast Nationals
NY Post
Jose Quintana was the weak link a month ago, but since then has ascended into the Mets’ most effective starting pitcher.
It’s a metamorphosis that if it continues will either help the team’s playoff aspirations or possibly allow the Mets to receive something in return at the trade deadline for the veteran left-hander if they drop from wild-card contention.
For now the focus is on the playoff race scenario, with Quintana as a valuable component.
Tuesday night he gave the Mets a second straight seven-inning scoreless performance, in a 7-5 victory over the Nationals at Citi Field to begin the team’s final homestand before the All-Star break.
Along the way Quintana became the first Mets pitcher since Jacob deGrom in 2019 with consecutive appearances of at least seven innings without allowing an earned run.
“Overall the way Q is attacking, putting hitters away, mixing his pitches, another good outing from him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
With the Yankees on an impressive run of mostly correct decisions, there’s some reason to leave them alone and just let the best team in the American League continue to roll. But they did raise serious doubt and leave room for suggestions (and even ridicule) following maybe the most inexplicable decision of this season, or any season.
The Giants have never been 0-2 under Brian Daboll, until now. They were 2-0 and flying high in 2022 and 1-1 after a rousing comeback in Arizona in 2023. So, this represents a low point as far as early-season difficulties for Daboll and the Giants. They had no business beating the Vikings in the opener and no business losing to the Commanders in Week 2. But here they are.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Harrison Butker kept making a lonely walk to midfield after each quarter Sunday to check on the direction of the wind, which tends to swirl inside Arrowhead Stadium. He did it one last time during the 2-minute warning, when his Chiefs were trailing the Bengals by two and trying to give him a winning field-goal attempt.