The game plan and stuff looked to be about the same for Jose Quintana, who attempted to lure Dodgers hitters the way he had Brewers and Phillies bats.
But the bait had gone stale.
Quintana thrived the postseason and in the final six weeks of the season largely by throwing appealing pitches that would fall out of the zone and often result in regrettable swings.
The Dodgers proved far more patient, which proved to be an issue.
The veteran lefty, who had not allowed an earned run in two postseason starts, was ineffective in the Mets’ 10-2, Game 4 demolition by the Dodgers at Citi Field that pushed his club to the brink in the NLCS.
Quintana lasted just 3 ¹/₃ innings in which he was charged with five runs on five hits and four walks, all against lefty hitters.
He was not particularly wild but lived just off the plate and waited for swings that came against the Brewers (in which he went six scoreless innings) and the Phillies (five innings allowing one unearned run).
Instead, his sinker was laid off, so he struggled to get ahead of hitters.
His curveball was not an out pitch, the Dodgers swinging at seven and missing none.
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The Dodgers were ready for a changeup that baffled others.
“They control the strike zone,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the Dodgers. “They forced Quintana to come in on the strike zone. And when he did, they made him pay.”
Quintana’s outing started terribly and did not improve much, the second pitch of the game a 1-0 sinker that Shohei Ohtani obliterated for a home run into the Mets’ bullpen, a bullet of a drive that jumped off his bat at 117.8 mph.
Quintana had not allowed a homer since Aug. 20, a stretch of eight consecutive outings without being victimized.
Quintana faced eight batters in a 37-pitch third inning that included another walk, an RBI double from Tommy Edman, in which he waited for a Quintana curveball, and an RBI single from Enrique Hernandez. Every at-bat was a struggle.
“I know they chase just a little bit. We know that,” said Quintana, who bemoaned an inability to put away Dodgers hitters once reaching two strikes. “But [I was] missing a couple spots.”
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Further trouble awaited in the fourth when a single by Chris Taylor and another walk to Ohtani — the superstar winning the head-to-head fight three times — created traffic that Jose Butto could not contain, Mookie Betts blasting a two-run double.
If that is it for Quintana’s Mets career, the pending free agent would be remembered fondly for two mostly strong seasons.
This year finished with an impressive sprint, but it might have culminated with frustration.
Quintana is not thinking that his Mets career is over.
“I’m going to make that adjustment and hopefully get another chance in this series,” Quintana said.
