ROOKIES RUMBLE AS METS WIN
Youngsters provide spark in Met's win over D'backs
The kids came to play. When Amed Rosario singled home Dominic Smith in the fourth inning Wednesday, it gave the Mets their first lead in 31 ¹/3 innings in a 4-2 victory over the Diamondbacks at Citi Field.
The Mets also got a pair of RBI singles from Michael Conforto that scored Brandon Nimmo, and Smith later crushed a solo home run.
Another rookie, pitcher Chris Flexen, worked his way out of jams throughout the night and threw a career-high six innings as the Mets won for the second time in their past 10 games.
“It’s a lot of fun for us to be able to come up here and help the team win ballgames,” Smith said. “I’ve been seeing this go on all year in Triple-A and now I’m just happy we could come up here and show the world what we can do.”
Out of the leadoff spot, Nimmo reached base all four times he came to the plate, with three walks and a double. Rosario added a pair of singles, giving the shortstop nine hits in 24 at-bats over his past six games.
Conforto, who was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup with a sore right thumb, returned to action Wednesday. The outfielder had his thumb and wrist taped before the game, but showed no ill effects.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be a thing where I would miss a lot of time,” Conforto said. “They just really wanted to be careful. … I didn’t feel it today.”
Flexen escaped a precarious situation in the fifth inning with some help from his teammates. With one out and the bases loaded, J.D. Martinez lofted a fly ball to center field. Juan Lagares set himself up perfectly to make the catch with momentum behind him and continued on to fire a one-hop strike to the plate. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud was there to receive the throw and slap the tag on A.J. Pollock to complete the inning-ending double play.
Over his six innings of work, Flexen stranded seven runners — two apiece in the first, third and fifth. In each of those three frames, Paul Goldschmidt came to the plate with two on and one out. Though he reached base twice — on a fielder’s choice, with Wilmer Flores gunning out the runner at home, and then on a single to load the bases — the power-hitting first baseman couldn’t break Flexen.
“It comes down to poise for me, not getting too nerved up when you gotta face the middle of that lineup,” manager Terry Collins said. “I thought he pitched very, very well. This is another step forward to show this guy has got a chance to be able to pitch here.
“When you got Paul Goldschmidt coming up, your heart starts beating a little faster. I think he’s realized now that his stuff plays here.”
Chris Iannetta ripped a solo home run for the Diamondbacks in the sixth inning, but two batters later, Flexen struck out pinch-hitter Brandon Drury with his 104th and final pitch of the night. Flexen scattered six hits and four walks while striking out five in his sixth major league start since being promoted from Double-A.
“I had a good two-seam [fastball] today, I was able to throw sliders when I needed them,” Flexen said. “I just really [tried to] bear down, get an out and limit the damage.”