Wilmer Flores had an amazing day at the plate in the Mets’ 14-3 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs as the team completed their four-game sweep. Flores became the second Metropolitan to have six hits in one game, tying the record set by Edgardo Alfonzo on August 30, 1999.
“I’m not going to lie. My sixth at-bat I thought about it,” Flores later said about tying the franchise record. “I didn’t want to face a position player, but he threw one in the middle and I hit it. You go at-bat by at-bat. You start thinking about it when you hit your fifth, or fourth. Your first at-bat you never think that you’re going to get six hits.”
The Mets’ third-baseman demolished Cubs pitching all day in a 6-for-6 effort at the plate. Two home runs, four singles and four RBI encompassed Flores’ big day. He entered the game marred in an 0-for-14 slump in his prior four games. Flores improved his numbers with the one big day, now hitting to a .255/.317/.403 slash with five homers and 18 RBI on the season.
“It’s definitely a good feeling being part of history,” said Flores. “Unbelievable feeling. Six hits, I never thought I was going to get six hits ever.”
With Jose Reyes looming in Binghamton, Flores gave notice to the team that he is not going to go down without a fight. He has no reason to concede the position to the returning Reyes and showed no signs of doing so in Sunday’s win. Manager, Terry Collins knows that Flores is well aware of what is soon to come.
“Players are not naive. He’s heard, he’s read, he’s been told that Jose Reyes is playing third base and that’s he’s on his way here,” Collins said. “Wilmer, as I have seen from the past in him, [is] saying, ‘You know what? He’s going to have to [take] this job.’ He went out today and had a big day.”
Flores knows that he may be passed over to make way for the aging Reyes. He is looking to do everything in his power to make that decision for management just a little harder as he put in a career day at the plate. Flores has openly said this season how much easier it is for him to perform when he’s playing everyday, and the struggles that come with being a bench player.
Regardless of the day he had, Reyes is coming. Flores will soon find himself in the super utility role of playing around the infield and filling in for guys here and there. Not an ideal situation for Flores, who will look to continue his recent success as Jose readies himself in Binghamton.
