Mets offense delivers encouraging result in Jesse Winker's first start, blowout win

NEW YORK — The Mets offense did not hold back in breaking out of their mini slump.

After seeing their momentum halted against the Braves and going 20 innings without scoring a run, the Mets lashed out in their series opener against the Twins on Monday night.

The Mets batted around the order in the fourth and sixth innings, unleashing 17 hits in a 15-2 victory over the Twins in front of 28,507 fans at Citi Field. It was an encouraging sign for the Mets, who improved to 56-50 in their final game before the trade deadline.

Jose Quintana notched the win with six quality innings, while Jose Butto notched a three-inning save. It was the Mets' largest margin victory of the season.

"It was great. I thought one through nine, we were super great, super disciplined with the zone," said Pete Alonso, who collected two hits, two RBI and three runs. "I thought it was a really excellent day, not just for the offense but Q was rock-solid. He was locating pretty much all of his pitches and Butto did a great job closing it out."

A big offensive night

After winning the opening two games against the Braves, including a three-home run inning on Friday night, the Mets were shut out on Saturday and went seven innings without scoring a run on Sunday as they settled for a series split.

But on Monday night, all 11 batters who the Mets sent to the plate recorded hits. They are the only National League team this season achieve that feat.

In the bottom of the fourth inning against Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson, the Mets had their first seven batters reach base, including Pete Alonso's 22nd home run and RBI singles by Jeff McNeil, Luis Torrens and Francisco Lindor to take a 6-1 lead.

Brandon Nimmo's sacrifice fly ended Wood Richardson's night with one out in the fourth.

"We put the ball in play when we needed to," Carlos Mendoza said. "I don't think we hit a lot of balls hard in that inning but we put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Obviously Pete got the big bit, but I think overall, really good at-bats as a team."

They used four walks in the sixth inning to pour it on, with McNeil, Mark Vientos and J.D. Martinez all collecting RBI. McNeil finished 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI on the night, and added four more runs in the seventh.

Jesse Winker comes through in first Mets start

In his first start for the Mets on Monday night, Jesse Winker, who was traded to the Mets from the Nationals late Saturday night, found himself in right field. It was the first time this season that he's started in that position and first game in the field since June 30.

After finishing 1-for-2 with a walk, a single and a run, Mendoza replaced Winker in field for Tyrone Taylor in the top of the sixth, with the Mets leading 6-1.

"Not necessarily five innings but he hasn't played the outfield in more than 30 days, so once we got the lead, three really good at-bats, I thought it was good to just get him out and get Taylor in there," Mendoza said of his workload.

Taylor provided some encouragement that the Mets have at least two quality fielders in that spot when he robbed Ryan Jeffers of a solo home run in the top of the seventh. Taylor was 2-for-2 with two runs.

Jose Quintana throws Twins a curveball

Before Jose Quintana recorded an out, he had already given up a run. The veteran left-hander surrendered a leadoff double to Manuel Margot and an RBI single to Byron Buxton.

From there, Quintana settled in to record his first quality start since July 9. He closed with one earned run allowed on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts across six innings.

Quintana led with his curveball, which he threw 48 times out of his 97 pitches. Eight of his 10 whiffs came on the pitch, which he entered using 21.9 percent of the time.

"It was part of our plan to throw breaking balls." Quintana said. "As soon I recognized they really ambushed and aggressive on the first pitch, I want to slow down a little bit and decide what pitch I want to control next for quick swings. It was definitely an adjustment I made during the game."

In the process, Quintana improved to 6-6 and chiseled his ERA down to 3.89 — the lowest it has been since April 28. He has allowed one earned run or fewer in six of his last eight starts.

Butto allowed one earned run on four hits and one walk across the final three innings to notch his second save. He threw 44 pitches, with Mendoza wanting to keep the possibility of Butto as a starter moving forward. Butto, who has a 2.47 ERA in 54⅔ innings has not made a major-league start since May 14.

"I thought it was important to somehow keep his pitch count up," Mendoza said. "We'll see what happens here. Good job by him saving the bullpen."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Mets offense delivers encouraging result in Jesse Winker's first start, blowout win