Paul Blackburn’s strong rehab start highlights Syracuse’s 4-1 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets dropped the series opener to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Tuesday night, surrendering the game’s final four runs in a 4-1 loss. It was the first game out of six scheduled in the second-to-last home series of the season for the Mets. Despite the loss, Syracuse still has a sterling 38-25 record at home during the 2024 season.

Syracuse (71-60, 25-32) got right to it in the bottom of the first inning, plating a run when Luisangel Acuña doubled to start the frame and then Luke Ritter doubled him in two batters later for a 1-0 lead. It continued a strong trend for Acuña, who had ten hits in last week’s series at Lehigh Valley.

From there, the Mets were befuddled by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s (75-56, 32-25) starting pitcher Edgar Barclay. The soft-tossing lefty pitched seven scintillating innings, allowing just one run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. At one point, Barclay went a 20-batter span without surrendering a hit. Barclay was remarkably efficient in his seven innings, throwing only 78 pitches.

On the other side, the rehabbing Big Leaguer for the Mets did his part on the mound. Paul Blackburn went six and two-thirds of one-run ball for Syracuse, surrendering just four hits and one walk while striking out four. Like Barclay, Blackburn was especially efficient as 53 of the 75 pitches that Blackburn threw were strikes. The California native took a no-hitter into the fourth inning and allowed just one hit in his first five innings of work, utilizing a well-located changeup early and often to keep the opposition off balance.

It remained a 1-1 game into the eighth inning when the RailRiders finally cracked the bullpen for the Syracuse Mets. Tyler Zuber was in for the Mets and promptly loaded the bases on a walk to JC Escarra and consecutive singles from Oscar Gonzalez and Jon Berti. Jasson Domínguez then gave Scranton/Wilkes-Barre the lead on a bases-loaded walk. A sacrifice fly from Oswald Peraza two batters later boosted the advantage to 3-1.

A solo homer from Escarra in the top of the ninth made it a 4-1 game and that would be plenty for their rock-solid bullpen. Yerry De Los Santos pitched a scoreless eighth and Nick Burdi earned the save in the ninth. It did not come easy, however, as the Mets got two runners on base with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate in the process. From there, Burdi bore down, striking out the last two batters of the game to ensure the RailRiders would grab the series opener in Syracuse.

The Syracuse Mets are in the midst of their penultimate homestand of the season, playing a six-game series against the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Game two of the six-game series is set for Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Right-hander Blade Tidwell is slated to start for the Mets against left-hander Tanner Tully for the RailRiders.