Christian Scott stars in Triple-A return, but Syracuse falls to St. Paul, 5-1 on Wednesday

St. Paul, MN – The Syracuse Mets visited the St. Paul Saints (Triple-A Minnesota Twins) for the first time on Wednesday night, and it proved to be a rough introduction. The Saints never trailed in a 5-1 win on an occasionally rainy evening at CHS Field. The game was delayed by nearly 45 minutes due to a thunderstorm that rolled through the area prior to the start of the game.

The headline for Syracuse (34-23) entering Wednesday night’s game was the return of starting pitcher Christian Scott, who had spent the entire month of May making his MLB debut with the New York Mets. Scott continued an inauspicious trend on the first pitch he threw in the bottom of the first inning, allowing a home run to the St. Paul (26-31) leadoff hitter Edouard Julien. Scott has allowed a home run in each of his six starts at the Triple-A level this season.

From there, Scott cruised yet again. The 24-year-old from Florida allowed just the one run on two hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Scott retired the final seven he faced in order and was remarkably efficient, throwing just 59 pitches (40 for strikes) in his five innings of work.

On the other end of the spectrum, the starter for Saints somehow managed to top Christian Scott. Caleb Boushley allowed just one run, a Trayce Thompson solo home run, on four hits in seven scintillating innings, striking out eight while not walking a single Mets batters all evening. Boushley also retired the final seven batters that he faced in order. It was the 30-year-old’s longest start of the season.

In the bottom of the sixth, with the game tied, 1-1, Blade Tidwell came out of the bullpen hoping to “piggy-back” the start of Scott and pitch the rest of the game for the Mets. He wouldn’t make it out of the sixth inning. The Saints got to Tidwell for four runs in the bottom of the sixth, chasing him from the frame after recording just two outs. Tidwell walked two batters and allowed two hits, with the fateful blow being a three-run homer from Michael Helman that proved to put the game out of reach, 5-1. Tidwell was pulled from the sixth inning after throwing 35 pitches, 18 of which were for strikes.

From there, the Saints’ bullpen slammed the door shut. Jay Jackson pitched a scoreless eighth, and Koby Funderburk tossed a clean ninth as St. Paul took the opener of the weeklong, six-game series. The Mets offense only had four hits all night and not a single hit in the final four innings of the game. The final 14 Syracuse batters in the game came to the plate without getting a hit.

Syracuse is on the road all week for their first-ever series against the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, the St. Paul Saints. A doubleheader is planned for Thursday evening to make up for the game that was rained out on Tuesday night. The first game of the doubleheader is set for a 6:07 p.m. ET first pitch with right-hander Dom Hamel slated to start for the Mets. Right-hander Mike Vasil is expected to start the second game of the doubleheader for Syracuse.