ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Wilmer Flores was in the lineup at shortstop for the Mets Friday night instead of Ruben Tejada because of "The Matrix."
Not the Keanu Reeves movie franchise. Terry Collins has a top-secret Mets-generated book that suggests many things, including what type of pitchers certain Mets batters should do well against. He calls it "The Matrix."
Since neither Flores nor Tejada had ever faced Rays starter Jake Odorizzi, "The Matrix" was activated. It spit out that Flores was a better bet against the righthander.
So that's why Flores was batting in the ninth inning of a tied game.