Gilbert homers again but Syracuse drops series finale to Durham, 10-6 on Sunday

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets lost Sunday afternoon’s series finale to the Durham Bulls, 10-6, at NBT Bank Stadium. Despite the loss, the Mets still split the weeklong, six-game series against the Bulls.

Syracuse (68-56, 22-28) got off to a very good start, as starting pitcher Dom Hamel held Durham (60-66, 24-27) hitless in the first three innings while the Mets took the early lead in the bottom of the second. Luke Ritter reached on an error to start the inning, moved to third on a single from Jackie Bradley Jr., and then Ritter scored on a single from Mike Brosseau for a 1-0 advantage.

However, from there, it became the Joe Rock show on the mound for the Bulls. The left-handed starter for Durham pitched six innings, allowing just one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Ritter did hit a home run off Rock in the sixth, but that would be all the Mets scored off Rock. In two starts in Syracuse this week, Rock allowed two earned runs in 13 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts.

While Rock was starring on the mound, the offense was helping him out. The Bulls got to Hamel in the fourth and fifth, scoring once in the fourth and twice in the fifth to take the lead for good. A solo home run from Austin Shenton broke up the no-hitter and got the Bulls on the board in the fourth, tying the game up, 1-1.

In the fifth, a wild pitch gave Durham a 2-1 lead before Shenton contributed an RBI single to give the Bulls a 3-1 edge.

The fatal blow for the Mets was in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Jonathan Aranda hit a grand slam well over the right-field fence to balloon the lead from 3-1 to 7-1. It was the second home run of the week for Aranda.

Syracuse did get a run back in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Luke Ritter hammered his 24th homer of the season to make it a 7-2 ballgame. That was Ritter’s first home run and RBI since August 8th. Ritter still leads the International League this season with 82 RBIs.

The Mets appeared to be on the verge of a comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Syracuse pushed across a run to make it 7-3 and then had runners on first and second with two outs. However, a strikeout ended the inning.

Then the Bulls firmly put the game away in the top of the eighth. Durham scored three more runs to push the lead out to seven runs at a 10-3 margin. Curtis Mead had an RBI double, and Shenton hit a two-run homer in the frame. Shenton finished the game 3-for-4 with two home runs and four runs driven in.

A late highlight came in the bottom of the ninth when Drew Gilbert slugged a three-run shot to cap off a solid week of work, making it a 10-6 ballgame. The former Tennessee Volunteer hit three homers during the series in Syracuse, all of which were no-doubt shots over the right-field fence. Gilbert entered the week with one home run on the season, a campaign that has been halted at times by injuries. Gilbert is widely considered one of the top prospects in the New York Mets minor-league system.

The Syracuse Mets now hit the road, beginning a weeklong, six-game series at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. It is Syracuse’s penultimate road trip of the season.