Joey Ortiz drove in three runs and six Milwaukee Brewers pitchers combined on a two-hitter for a 6-0 victory over the visiting Mets on Saturday night, preventing New York from gaining an advantage in the tightly contested National League wild card race.
The Mets (87-72) are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks (88-73), who lost to the Padres on Saturday, for the final NL wild-card spot.
After finishing the three-game series at Milwaukee on Sunday, the Mets will play a makeup doubleheader on Monday at Atlanta.
Ortiz put the Brewers in front 2-0 with a two-out, bases-loaded single against New York starter Jose Quintana in the fourth. Willy Adames singled with one out and Rhys Hoskins and Isaac Collins sandwiched walks around a strikeout to load the bases. Ortiz then punched a 3-2 curveball into shallow center.
Milwaukee added four runs in the eighth when Garrett Mitchell singled to open the frame and stole second. William Contreras walked and Adames followed with an RBI single. Jake Bauers’ bloop single loaded the bases and Ortiz walked with two outs to make it 4-0. Andruw Monasterio followed with a two-run single to center.
Tobias Myers (9-6) got the victory with four innings of one-hit relief after reliever Jared Koenig pitched the first inning. Joel Payamps struck out all three hitters in the sixth, and Aaron Ashby, Nick Mears and Devin Williams each followed with a hitless inning.
Quintana (10-10) allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking two.
The NL Central champion Brewers (93-68) have secured the No. 3 playoff seed and will host a wild-card series.
New York threatened in the fifth when Starling Marte began the inning with a ground-rule double and advanced on a ground out. Myers got Harrison Bader on a soft liner to third and Luisangel Acuna on a fly to right.
–Field Level Media
