Quintana gets 100th win as Mets blank Reds 4-0 for 9th straight victory
NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Quintana earned his 100th career win with 6 2/3 sharp innings as the surging New York Mets extended their longest winning streak in more than six years Saturday with a 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
A slumping Harrison Bader homered to spark a four-run sixth for the Mets, who have won nine straight games for the first time since April 2018. New York, which began the day tied with rival Atlanta for the final NL wild card, hasn’t trailed in its last 72 innings since Aug. 30 — the longest streak in the majors this season.
Bader was mired in skids of 0 for 15 and 2 for 43 before connecting off Sam Moll (3-2) in the sixth. It was Bader’s 11th home run of the year, and first to the opposite field.
Pete Alonso hit a one-out RBI single and J.D. Martinez laced a two-run double with two outs. New York has outscored its opponents 44-16 during the winning streak.
Francisco Lindor’s career-high 16-game hitting streak ended as he went 0 for 3, but his sixth-inning walk pushed his on-base streak to 35 games, the longest active run in the majors and the longest single-season streak in Mets history.
Quintana (8-9) allowed five hits and struck out six in becoming the 19th active pitcher to reach 100 wins. He threw exactly 100 pitches and has a 0.50 ERA in his last three starts.
Adam Ottavino, Danny Young and Edwin Díaz completed the six-hitter for New York’s seventh shutout this season — all since July 11.
Jakob Junis, making his second start for the Reds since he was acquired from Milwaukee on July 30, allowed one hit — a fifth-inning double by Jose Iglesias — over five innings. It was Junis’ longest big league appearance since he threw 5 1/3 innings of relief for San Francisco on Sept. 25, 2022.
IT TAKES TWO
The Mets’ new double-play combination of Iglesias and Lindor turned a pair of impressive double plays. Iglesias, who will be the Mets’ everyday second baseman going forward with Jeff McNeil sidelined, made a diving stop to rob Ty France of a hit to begin a 4-6-3 double play in the second. Lindor started a 6-4-3 double play by ranging into the hole on Jonathan India’s grounder in the third.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (right elbow) could return to the active roster after two live batting practice sessions, the first of which is scheduled for Tuesday. … LHP Andrew Abbott (shoulder) is continuing to throw in hopes of returning to Cincinnati’s rotation before the season ends.
Mets: McNeil (right wrist) will miss the rest of the regular season after an MRI revealed a small fracture. He was hit by a 74 mph curveball from Brandon Williamson on Friday night. McNeil isn’t expected to need surgery. He and manager Carlos Mendoza said it was possible McNeil could return in October if the Mets make a deep playoff run. He will be placed on the injured list Sunday. … RHP Kodai Senga (left calf strain) threw his second bullpen.
UP NEXT
The three-game series concludes Sunday, when RHP Luis Severino (10-6, 3.84 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets. The Reds had not announced a scheduled starter.
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