Mets pitcher Chris Flexen would get the start on Saturday afternoon filling in for Jacob deGrom against the St. Louis Cardinals, but the results were less than favorable.

Flexen was shaky over the course of 4.1 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on six hits while walking four and striking out none. He would ultimately pick up the loss against Cardinals newly extended ace, Miles Mikolas.

After breezing through the first inning only throwing 13 pitches, Flexen would run into trouble in the second. The right-hander faced eight batters and surrendered three runs (two earned) on three hits in the inning.

The Mets opted to load the bases with two outs to face Mikolas. This plan ultimately backfired as Wilson Ramos‘s struggles behind the plate continued. The catcher allowed a pitch to go through his legs, which saw a run cross the plate on a passed ball to score the game’s first run.

On the next pitch, Flexen surrendered a single up the middle to the opposing pitcher Mikolas, which extended the lead to 3-0.

In the third inning, Flexen allowed a lead-off double to Cards shortstop Paul DeJong on a hanging breaking ball. He would then walk the next batter, which brought Jose Martinez to the plate.

Martinez singled to center field to plate DeJong to make the score 4-0 with still nobody out. In the next at-bat, Yadier Molina flied out to center to add another run on a sac-fly.

Flexen would bounce back in the fourth with a clean inning of work. After getting Mikolas to line out, the right-hander worked around a Matt Carpenter single by inducing two straight ground balls to end the inning.

Flexen would stay in to hit for himself in the top of the fifth and recorded just the Mets second hit of the day at that point on a single to center. The pitcher was 1-for-2 at the plate this afternoon on a day, where hits were scarce for the Mets offense.

In the bottom half of the inning, Flexen walked the lead-off man in Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna would then catch Flexen sleeping, taking second base before he delivered a pitch.

Ozuna moved over to third base on a comeback liner by Martinez that hit off the pitcher. Molina then snuck a grounder through the hole on the left side of the infield between the shortstop and third baseman for an RBI single. This extended the lead to 6-0 and ended a forgettable day for Flexen.

Flexen showed off some good stuff at times, consistently hovering around 94 mph with his fastball, while topping out at 96 mph. He also flashed an impressive 88 mph slider, which was not used enough on Saturday. The right-hander’s main issue that ran him into trouble was his lack of control and poor decision making when he was ahead in the count.

If the Mets continue to ignore their lack of starting pitching depth, they will keep punting each game, where one of their “big four” starters isn’t on the mound. Now with deGrom’s health in question, it is without a doubt time to go add a serviceable starting pitcher to provide reinforcement to this struggling group, which lacks depth.