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Flores makes Mets regret losing him

May 15, 2008 12:15 am

BY RICH CAMPBELL

NEW YORK--

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.

"The key at-bat of the game," Acta said. "What an at-bat for a kid that was playing A-ball just a couple of years ago. I can't say enough about that kid. We like him a lot."

The Mets did, too, when they signed Flores at age 17 in 2002. That summer in the Dominican League, he slowly began plodding his way up the organizational ladder toward the big leagues.

There were some signs that this raw prospect would eventually pan out, but he didn't exactly blaze a trail to New York. It wasn't until 2004 that Flores worked his way out of the Latin leagues and began playing in America.

He batted .319 in 45 games with the Mets' affiliate in the low-A Gulf Coast League that year and was named an all-star. After an injury-shortened 2005 season in Single-A, he was named the most valuable player of Single-A St. Lucie in 2006.

Flores, 23, was beginning to make a name for himself-and the Nationals noticed.

When the Mets left Flores unprotected in the Rule 5 draft after the 2006 season, the Nationals snatched him up. Just like that, Washington had its catcher of the future.

"He's got all the tools," Redding said. "We wouldn't have Rule 5'd him last year if he didn't have any. I know the Mets are definitely upset that they lost him."

Acta knew that first-hand. Flores was in the Mets' major league camp in spring training during 2005 and 2006, when Acta served as New York's third-base coach.

Flores spent all of 2007 with Washington, per Rule 5 rules, and he showed well enough to solidify his status as the organization's top catching prospect. Nationals management thought it best for Flores to develop by playing every day in the minor leagues this season, rather than be a backup in the majors, but injuries to Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada necessitated Flores' return to the majors this month.

And he's making the most of it so far. He's batting .348 in eight games this season. Each night he contributes, he increases the Mets' remorse.

"They really liked him," Acta said, "but it's just a numbers game, sometimes."

Nationals Note

The Nationals optioned reliever Chris Schroder to Triple-A after the game to make room for Jason Bergmann, who will start this afternoon's game.

NATIONALS 5, METS 3

Washington

New York

Washington

000

001

400--

5

New York

000

010

110--

3

LOB--Washington 4, New York 5. 2B--FLopez (5). HR--Zimmerman (7), off Vargas; Schneider (2), off Redding. RBIs--FLopez (14), CGuzman 2 (18), Zimmerman (21), Flores (6), Beltran (23), Schneider 2 (12). GIDP--CGuzman, Dukes. Runners left in scoring position--Washington 2 (Zimmerman, Boone); New York 2 (EnChavez, Easley). Runners moved up--WPena, Schneider. DP--Washington 1 (Zimmerman and FLopez); New York 2 (JReyes, Easley and Delgado), (Easley, JReyes and Delgado).

Washington

New York

Inherited runners-scored--Ayala 2-0, Rauch 2-1, Heilman 1-1, JoSmith 1-0. WP--Vargas.

T--3:04. A--48,529 (57,365).

Rich Campbell: 540/735-1974
Email: rcampbell@freelancestar.com