CLEVELAND — Scott Rice spent the last 2 ¹/₂ months fighting abdominal pain, but on Friday decided enough was enough.
The Mets reliever will undergo surgery on Tuesday for a sports hernia, ending his season. The left-hander — who spent 14 years in the minor leagues before making his major league debut this season — was 4-5 with a 3.71 ERA in 73 appearances for the Mets.
“The past week it’s just progressively getting worse every day,” Rice said before the Mets’ 8-1 loss to the Indians on Friday night. “It’s to the point where I can hardly walk right now.”
Rice called the hernia a “fatigue” injury that many pitchers incur. R.A. Dickey underwent sports hernia surgery last October after pitching in discomfort for much of the season.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better rookie season,” Rice said. “I’m so thankful for it and I really wish I could have gutted it out and made it to the end of the season. The last thing I want is to be sitting there thinking about it and compensating and ending up hurting something else more seriously.”
Manager Terry Collins said Rice has shown enough to be considered the team’s primary lefty reliever heading into next season.
“He should be very proud,” Collins said. “[Fourteen] years in the minor leagues, and he certainly did a good job for us.”
Wilmer Flores was in the starting lineup for the first time in seven days, after spending the week resting a sore ankle. Flores, who started at third base, finished hitless in three at-bats and is stuck in a 1-for-23 (.043) slump. He also committed a throwing error that led to an unearned run against Zack Wheeler in the second inning.
“I’m hoping [the rest] is going to make [Flores] better,” Collins said. “I know his ankle is doing much better, but I started to see his swing getting a little long, so I thought he was getting tired. Maybe the days off will [let] him get some energy back.”
The Mets selected the contract of lefty reliever Sean Henn from Triple-A Las Vegas. The 32-year-old Henn, who has pitched for the Yankees, Padres, Twins and Orioles, was 3-5 with a 2.81 ERA in 52 appearances for the 51s this season.