Jose Quintana’s July 4 start a meaningful moment for Mets hurler

WASHINGTON — Jose Quintana had pitched on the Fourth of July previously in his career, but never as a U.S. citizen.

The veteran left-hander, a Colombian who became a U.S. citizen this year during spring training, savored the day.

He also almost saved the day with a superb pitching performance in the Mets’ 1-0 loss to the Nationals .

“A lot of my teammates said ‘Congratulations’ and ‘I’m happy for you,’ ” Quintana said of his first Independence Day as a U.S. citizen. “It means a lot for me and my family.”

With an 11:05 a.m. first pitch, Quintana was forced to alter his routine of sleeping until 9 in the morning.

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He said he was awake by 7 and ate breakfast by 7:30.

He likened the experience to spring training and reporting for daily workouts.

On this day he pitched seven scoreless innings to continue his steady improvement over the last three weeks.

In three of his last four starts he has pitched at least six innings and allowed one earned run or less.

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Quintana credited a mechanical adjustment for his improved pitching — his ERA has dropped from 5.29 to 4.22 over his last four starts — but pitching coach Jeremy Hefner cited a change in approach.

“I think we just got back to simplifying a little bit,” Hefner said. “We were maybe overcooking some of the movement we were seeing, what the computer was saying and those type of things. We just got back to being simple and executing.”

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Quintana’s outing was his longest since April 28 when he allowed one earned run over eight innings against the Cardinals at Citi Field.

“I am trying to use more of my strengths and the hitters’ strengths too,” Quintana said.

The Mets could look to deal from their stable of starting pitchers before the trade deadline in an attempt to upgrade other areas or add to their prospect base.

Quintana, who is set to become a free agent after the season, could be a pitcher the Mets consider dealing .

“We’re in a good race right now, so I think we need to more focus on us,” Quintana said. “About trades, I have been in this position before and I just want to get ready every five days to compete and we’ll see what happens.”

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