MILWAUKEE (AP) — Joey Ortiz drove in three runs for Milwaukee and the New York Mets mustered just two hits as their playoff hopes sustained another blow with a 4-0 loss to the Brewers on Saturday night.
New York (87-72) lost their third straight and fell one game behind Atlanta (88-71) in the NL wild card race when the Braves beat Kansas City 2-1 on a ninth-inning, walk-off homer from former Met Travis d’Arnaud.
The Mets are competing for the NL’s final two wild-card spots with the Braves and Arizona (88-72), which was hosting San Diego.
Both the Mets and Braves have head-to-head tiebreaker advantages over the Diamondbacks. The Mets and Braves would play a Monday doubleheader in Atlanta if their postseason fates haven’t been settled.
Ortiz put the Brewers ahead 2-0 in the fourth by looping a full-count curveball from Jose Quintana (10-10) into left-center with a bases-loaded single.
Milwaukee broke open the game in the eighth inning by scoring four runs off Reed Garrett, the first runs he allowed since Aug. 18. The outburst included an RBI single by Willy Adames, a bases-loaded walk by Ortiz and a two-run single by Andruw Monasterio.
Quintana and four relievers combined to strike out 18 — the Mets’ highest total this season. But New York was shut out for the first time since Aug. 23 and was held to two hits or fewer for just the fifth time this year.
Jose Iglesias singled in the first inning and Starling Marte hit a ground-rule double in the fifth. The only other time the Mets put a runner on base was when Iglesias drew a one-out walk in the ninth.
Quintana (10-10) entered with 22 2/3 consecutive shutout innings. He struck out nine while allowing two runs, five hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.
After Milwaukee’s Jared Koenig pitched a scoreless first inning as the opener, Tobias Myers (9-6) took over and struck out five while allowing one hit and no walks in four innings.
Joel Payamps, Aaron Ashby, Nick Mears and Devin Williams each pitched one inning of hitless relief.
After the Brewers pulled ahead in the fourth, Marte led off the fifth with a double and advanced to third when Luis Torrens grounded out. Marte got stranded at third after Myers retired Harrison Bader on a liner to third and Luisangel Acuña on a fly to right.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: C Francisco Alvarez was out of the lineup after back spasms caused him to leave the Mets’ 8-4 loss Friday. He struck out on a pinch-hitting attempt in the eighth inning. … SS Francisco Lindor didn’t play the field and was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as a DH, one day after returning from a sore lower back that had sidelined him for nearly two weeks. “I just thought that after having him down for 10, 11, days, to throw him back-to-back on the field is not ideal,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Brewers: Although an MRI revealed no structural damage, OF Sal Frelick bruised his hip when he crashed into the right-field wall attempting to make a diving catch of a foul ball Friday. The NL Central champion Brewers expect to start the playoffs without Frelick but haven’t ruled out a possible return at some point in the postseason.
UP NEXT
LHP David Peterson (9-3, 3.08) starts Sunday’s series finale for the Mets.