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Flores makes Mets regret losing him
Nationals 5, Mets 3
Date published: 5/15/2008
BY RICH CAMPBELL NEW YORK-- When Jesus Flores was a 17-year-old catching prospect living in Carupano, Venezuela, and he fantasized about life as a major league baseball player, he would envision himself triumphantly sprinting out of the batter's box at Shea Stadium after coming through with an important hit for his team, the New York Mets.Six years later, Flores last night came through with that big hit on that same field, but he was wearing the navy and red of the Washington Nationals. His tie-breaking, RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning last night sparked a four-run rally and catapulted the Nationals to a 5-3 victory over the Mets in the third game of a four-game series. "I was thinking to be one day a title catcher for them," Flores said, "but everything changed. Now, you know, this is baseball. Anything can happen. Now, I'm in the big leagues with another team and I'm happy about it." The Nationals' four-run seventh supported starter Tim Redding, who rebounded from his ineffective outing against Florida last Friday by holding the Mets to one run and two hits. He improved to 5-3, as the Nationals won for second time in three games. "He did an outstanding job," manager Manny Acta said of Redding. "He had very good command of his fastball, and his curve ball was good today." Redding would have become the latest starting-pitching casualty of the Nationals' struggling offense had it not been for Flores' clutch hit. With the score tied 1-1 and two outs in the seventh, Flores came to bat with Elijah Dukes on second base. The at-bat began inauspiciously when Flores swung and missed at two errant pitches from Mets reliever Aaron Heilman to fall behind 0-2. "I tried to calm down myself and look for a good pitch to drive," Flores said. The next three pitches from Heilman were all low and outside, and Flores had the discipline to lay off. Then, with the count full, he smashed a hard ground ball through the left side. Dukes raced home and gave the Nationals the lead for good.
Date published: 5/15/2008
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