Former Mets pitcher Chris Flexen did his best Madison Bumgarner impersonation to help send the Doosan Bears to the Korean Series. On Friday morning, with Doosan beating the KT Wiz by a 2-0 score, Flexen came into pitch during the seventh inning on three days rest.
Flexen pitched three scoreless innings – facing the minimum – to get the save and send the Bears to the championship round against the NC Dinos. The right-hander allowed one hit, no walks, struck out two, and needed only 30 pitches to secure the win. The Bears are now going to the Korean Series for the sixth straight season.
This big-time relief outing came just a few days after Flexen pitched 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball with 11 strikeouts in Game 1 of the series. That 11 strikeout performance made Flexen the first player in KBO postseason history to have back-to-back double-digit strikeout games.
and that’ll do it. costly mistakes in this game make it a tough way for the KT season to end, but Doosan is the better team and it will be great to see the 2 clear best teams compete for the title. 6th straight Korean Series trip for the Bears; the Wiz will get there one day! https://t.co/SfZkyzPYMv pic.twitter.com/vq83ZwWUz0
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) November 13, 2020
Flexen – brought up to the big leagues too early and constantly mishandled by the Mets – finished off his first season in the KBO with a 3.01 ERA (5th in league), 1.09 WHIP (5th), and a 4.40 K/BB ratio (4th). He had 132 strikeouts in 116 2/3 innings during the regular season.
Here’s how Flexen has fared in three playoff appearances:
16 2/3 IP, 9 H, 2 ER (reliever let both inherited runners score), 3 BB, 24 K
Flexen was drafted in by the Mets in 2012 by the Sandy Alderson regime, and KBO sources tell me that he’s impressed big league scouts this season to the point where he could get more than a straight minor league deal.
