Surgery to shelve Mets’ Quintana until at least July

Left-hander José Quintana won’t make his New York Mets debut until at least July because of a stress fracture in his rib.

The Mets are relieved that the prognosis wasn’t more severe.

Mets General Manager Billy Eppler told reporters Tuesday that a scan revealed a lesion on the impacted rib. Quintana went to New York to visit an orthopedic tumor specialist for a biopsy and additional scans that revealed the lesion was benign.

“This was bigger than baseball,” Eppler said. “José’s got our support and anything he needs. I’m just really thankful we’re at least here as opposed to one of the other potential outcomes.”

Eppler said Quintana will have an operation Friday in New York that involves a bone graft. Eppler said recovery from the surgery will keep Quintana out until at least July 1 but didn’t offer any specifics beyond that.

Atlanta optioned

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right-handers Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder to Class AAA Gwinnett. Both players were competing for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Anderson, 24, had a promising start to his career but went 10-6 with a 5.00 ERA in 22 starts last season and was sent to the minors in early August.

Baltimore reas

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signed shortstop Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, to its minor league camp.

Holliday, 19, has shown plenty of promise this spring. He was 5 for 13 in spring training games with a .529 on-base percentage and a .991 OPS.

Detroit claimed l right-hander Freddy Pacheco off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Venezuela advances in WBC

In Miami, Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander had two hits each as Venezuela beat Nicaragua, 4-1, and improved to 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic.

Venezuela clinched Pool D and reached the quarterfinals thanks to the Dominican Republic’s victory over Israel.

Nicaragua finished 0-4 in its first WBC and will be forced to participate in qualifying for the 2026 tournament. . . .

Manny Machado homered, singled and drove in three runs as the Dominican Republic (2-1) routed Israel, 10-0, in seven innings.

Reigning American League rookie of the year Julio Rodriguez and Eloy Jiménez each had two hits for the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic finished with 15 hits against seven Israeli pitchers — the last a tworun double by Jean Segura that ended the game in the seventh because of the tournament’s mercy rule. . . .

Otto Lopez hit a three-run homer, Noah Skirrow threw five quality innings, and Canada (2-1) shut out Colombia (1-2), 5-0, in Phoenix.