With give attention to playoffs, Mets look to interrupt Brewers’ spell

The visiting New York Mets will turn to veteran right-hander Jose Quintana as they look to keep pace in the tightly contested National League wild-card race when they face the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.

The Brewers, who have secured the third seed in the playoffs and will host a wild-card series, benefited from Rhys Hoskins’ grand slam in an 8-4 win over the Mets on Friday. Milwaukee also stole a season-high six bases, including three by Brice Turang that boosted his total to 50 on the season.

“We got down early, but we didn’t give up,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, who was ejected in the fourth inning. “So, turn the page and we’ve got to get ready for tomorrow.”

The Mets (87-71) were playing for the first time since Tuesday after a pair of hurricane-related postponements in Atlanta. They dropped into a tie for the second wild-card spot with the Braves (87-71), who recorded a 3-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Arizona (88-72), which dropped a 5-3 decision to the San Diego Padres on Friday, is in a virtual tie with the Mets and Braves but currently is the fourth team in the chase for three spots.

The Mets will play a make-up doubleheader on Monday at Atlanta. It will be a short turnaround for whichever teams advance, with the San Diego Padres and Brewers set to host the opening game of the wild-card series on Tuesday.

“Look at the talent they have over there,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of the Mets. “So, we’ll have our work cut out for us the next two days, but just keep playing.”

Quintana (10-9, 3.74 ERA) has not allowed a run in 20 2/3 innings to improve to 3-0 this month. He has not lost since Aug. 20.

In his most recent start, Quintana tossed seven innings of two-hit ball, striking out four and walking two in a 10-0 win over the Washington Nationals on Sept. 18.

Quintana is 9-6 with a 2.94 ERA in 22 career appearances (21 starts) versus Milwaukee but has not recorded a victory over the Brewers since 2019.

Milwaukee (92-68) is set to start left-hander Jared Koenig (9-4, 2.51), who in one career appearance against the Mets was tagged for six runs on eight hits in three innings.

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez left Friday’s game in the seventh inning with back spasms.

“When he first came out, he didn’t look to good,” Mendoza said. “But for the past 30 minutes or so, he was walking around feeling definitely better. We’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow and see what we have.”

The Brewers are 24-8 over their past 32 games against the Mets, winning 11 of the past 12 and six straight encounters.

Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick left in the third inning with a left hip injury after crashing into the wall in foul territory.

“We don’t know how significant the injury is, but he has an MRI tomorrow,” Murphy said after the game. “I can’t even speculate. He did have X-rays here, kind of inconclusive.”

–Field Level Media