Five-run seventh inning powers Syracuse to 8-6 win over Worcester on Wednesday night
Syracuse, NY – Down, 6-3, entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Syracuse Mets scored five two-out runs in the frame en route to an 8-6 victory over the Worcester Red Sox in front of an electric crowd of 9,287 fans at NBT Bank Stadium on Wednesday evening. The
Syracuse, NY – Down, 6-3, entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Syracuse Mets scored five two-out runs in the frame en route to an 8-6 victory over the Worcester Red Sox in front of an electric crowd of 9,287 fans at NBT Bank Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Mets now have a 26-16 in front of their home fans so far in the 2024 season.
Syracuse (51-32, 5-4) roared in front first with three runs in the bottom of the first. With Brett Baty on second and Rylan Bannon on first with two outs, Pablo Reyes smacked a three-run homer over the left-field fence to boost the Mets to a 3-0 early advantage. Reyes has hits in each of the first three games he’s played this week against his old organization.
In the top of the second, Worcester (40-43 5-3) got a run back but also left some tallies on the table. With one out, consecutive singles from Eddy Alvarez and Niko Kavadas put two runners on base with one out and then Tyler Heineman was plunked by a pitch to load up the bases. Justin Jarvis, the Syracuse starting pitcher, then struck out Mark Contreras to keep the bases loaded with two outs, but a walk to Chase Meidroth allowed a run to cross home plate and make it a 3-1 game. The next batter, Nick Sogard, then flied out to center field to leave the bases loaded and limit the WooSox damage to just one run in the top of the second inning.
In the third, a similar story happened for Worcester as the Red Sox scored a solitary run but left the bases loaded. The Red Sox loaded up the bases with one out on a Nick Yorke walk, an Eddy Alvarez bunt single, and a Nathan Hickey hit by a pitch. An RBI single from Niko Kavadas plated one run, but the WooSox wouldn’t score again in the third inning and the Mets remained in front by a 3-2 count. The Red Sox left seven runners on base in the first three innings alone in Wednesday night’s game.
It remained a 3-2 game into the top of the fifth when Worcester struck quickly with two outs to knot the game up quickly at three. Max Kranick had pitched a scoreless fourth and got the first two outs in the fifth, but an Alvarez double kept the inning alive. Alvarez then raced home to tie the game, 3-3, on another Kavadas RBI single, his second straight run-producing hit dating back to the third inning.
The WooSox scored the next three runs to all of a sudden take a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. It was all from some thunderous power. In the sixth, the Red Sox took the lead, 4-3, with a solo homer leading off the inning from Mark Contreras.
In the seventh, a pair of solo shots from Eddy Alvarez and Tyler Heineman made it a 6-3 game all of a sudden. Both of the homers came off of Bryce Montes de Oca in his first outing of the 2024 season at the Triple-A level.
In the bottom of the seventh, with the Mets still down 6-3, Syracuse got its swagger back. Baty had singled with one out earlier in the inning, but he was still at first with two outs and the home team in danger of going scoreless for the sixth straight inning. Then, in seemingly the blink of an eye, everything changed. Six straight two-out hits plated five runs and rocketed Syracuse back in front by an 8-6 margin. Pablo Reyes, Mike Brosseau, and Yolmer Sánchez each had RBI singles in the inning. Sánchez drove in two runs with his base knock. Hayden Senger capped off the scoring bonanza with an RBI double. The Mets sent ten men to the plate in the inning, scoring five runs on seven total hits. Syracuse had not scored more than four runs in any of their prior three games.
From there, the Mets bullpen ensured the game would not get away. Josh Walker pitched a scoreless eighth, and Wilkin Ramos earned the save with a clean ninth, although it got interesting. Runners were on first and third with two outs and Chase Meidroth at the plate, who had already reached base eight total times in the Syracuse entering the plate appearance. However, Meidroth grounded out to second base to end the game and ensure that Syracuse would snap its three-game losing streak.
The Syracuse Mets now continue their holiday week series with three games at the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the Worcester Red Sox. The first game out of three in the heart of Massachusetts is slated for a 6:45 p.m. first pitch on Thursday. Left-hander Joey Lucchesi is expected to start for the Mets, opposed by right-hander Richard Fitts for the WooSox.