PORT ST. LUCIE — Jose Quintana received plenty of opportunities to work with runners on base Sunday.
Such was the positive spin that Quintana could put on the fact he wasn’t sharp in his Grapefruit League start against the Marlins.
“This is a special time to be working on something,” the left-hander said after the Mets’ 7-6 victory at Clover Park. “It’s really good to get in a couple of situations and get the ground balls and execute your pitches.”
Overall, he allowed six runs (four of which were earned) on eight hits and one walk over 4 ¹/₃ innings. Quintana was removed at 71 pitches, failing to get through the fifth as he had hoped.
“He got behind in counts and got hit, but I thought as the game went on he got better,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “A good day to work.”
He will receive one last exhibition start — either Friday or Saturday, according to Mendoza — before getting the ball on March 28 for the season opener against the Brewers at Citi Field.
Quintana, the first left-hander to receive the Opening Day starting pitching assignment for the Mets since Jon Niese in 2013, hopes to extend to 85-90 pitches in his final spring training start.
“The ups and downs now are the most important,” Quintana said, referring to the number of innings pitched. “I tried to get the last inning today … but I got into trouble the last two innings when I threw a lot of pitches.”
Quintana wasn’t alone among Mets starting pitchers in scuffling on Sunday.
Tylor Megill pitched for a Mets’ split-squad against the Nationals in West Palm Beach and allowed four earned runs on five hits and two walks over 3 ²/₃ innings.
It was the roughest outing of the exhibition season for Megill, who is a strong consideration for the rotation vacancy created by Kodai Senga’s shoulder strain.
Megill and Jose Butto are the primary possibilities for that opening.