On Wednesday night, it looked like Wilmer Flores, who has been in the New York Mets organization since he was 16 years old, was going to be traded along with Zack Wheeler to the Brewers for Carlos Gomez. The way the news broke made for a bizarre scene where Flores was playing in the field with tears in his eyes as the trade seemed all but certain. The deal, of course, fell apart and Gomez wound up going to the Astros and Flores remained with the Mets. He didn't play the final game of the Padres series on Thursday, but he was back in the lineup Friday night against the Nationals and Mets fans let him know they were happy to see him.
[MLB]
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In his first at bat since the whole debacle on Wednesday, Mets fans gave Flores a standing ovation and a nice round of applause. They continued to do so in each at bat the rest of the night. The actual game was a good one, too. Matt Harvey looked dominant, going seven and two-thirds with nine strikeouts and one earned run. Leading 1-0 in the eighth inning, though, Harvey eventually got into some trouble and the Nationals tied the game.Neither team could muster another run in their final at bats, so the game went to extra innings. But it would be happier (and shorter) than the last time Keith Hernandez sat through some free baseball. Wilmer Flores ended it in the 12th inning with a line drive blast into the seats in left-centerfield.He pumped his fist as he rounded first base, and pounded the Mets insignia on his chest before getting mobbed by his teammates at home plate. It was his first career walk-off home run, and crazy bookend to an even crazier 48 hours.