FLEXEN BEATS RANGERS, EARNS FIRST WIN
Rookie gets 1st hit, win
Chris Flexen apparently is a fast learner. The Mets’ 23-yearold righty, now a grizzled veteran of three major league starts, has committed Rule No. 1 of pitching to memory.
“Yeah, don’t leave a ball over the middle of the plate,” said Flexen. “Obviously, I still did that, gave up two home runs tonight but I think the biggest thing was being able to execute pitches.”
And the execution against Texas — along with three Mets homers that arrived in the first two innings — allowed Flexen to survive for his first major league victory, a 5-4 triumph Tuesday at Citi Field.
“The difference was I was able to execute pitches when I needed to,” said Flexen, who jumped from Double-A into a Mets rotation which has been ravaged by injuries. “Still made a lot of mistakes over the middle but good enough to pull out the win.”
No complaints from the Mets who provided Flexen a 4-0 lead as Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes slugged solo homers in the first inning and catcher Travis d’Arnaud added a two-run shot in the second against Rangers starter A.J. Griffin (5-3) who was moved up from Wednesday when Andrew Cashner was scratched with a stiff neck.
“Pitching with a lead is awesome,” said Flexen (1-1) who also collected his first major league hit, a fifth-inning double.
And that was “awesome” too, by the way.
Manager Terry Collins didn’t quite describe Flexen as awesome, but he praised what the rookie did and how he did it.
“You saw a better slider tonight than he’s had. Used his changeup a little bit more effectively,” said Collins of Flexen, who worked 5 2/3 innings and surrendered three earned runs, four hits, three walks and one hit batter while striking out four. “After the third inning, he just kind of settled in. … He really got comfortable and threw his fastball [with] a little bit better command.
“He’s one of those guys that’s the future here, and so, once in a while, you’ve got to have some patience and you’ve got to bite the bullet and give them a little chance to get a sense of what it takes to pitch in the big leagues,” Collins said of Flexen, who underwent knee surgery for bone chips in spring training.
The Rangers rocked Flexen for two solo homers. Joey Gallo’s first pitch bomb into the seats in center, his 31st homer, made it 4-1 in the fifth. And Adrian Beltre, the newest member of baseball’s 3,000-hit club, slugged his 11th homer in the sixth on a 1-1 fastball to cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2. Flexen exited after a two-out walk. Erick Goeddel entered, but Gallo delivered an RBI double to make the margin a mere 4-3.
The Mets made it 5-3 on Asdrubal Cabrera’s RBI double in the eighth. A.J. Ramos worked the ninth for his first Mets save, despite giving up Robinson Chirinos’ 13th homer.