Mike Brosseau’s two homers not enough in 5-3 Syracuse loss to Worcester on Monday night

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets suffered a rare sight on Monday night – a loss at NBT Bank Stadium. The Mets dropped a 5-3 final to the Worcester Red Sox, just Syracuse’s 15th home loss in 40 total home games so far this season. It’s also back-to-back losses for the Mets, who dropped the series finale in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon.

The starting pitcher for Worcester (39-42, 4-2) on Monday night, Justin Hagenman, is not a starter by trade. He has made just 17 starts in his Minor League career out of 189 career appearances. However, you never would have known it based on his strong performance. Hagenman tossed five strong innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Unfortunately for Hagenman, two of the four hits he gave up were home runs by Mike Brosseau that helped to sully his final pitching line. They were the ninth and tenth homers of the season for the former Oakland Golden Grizzly.

On the other end of the spectrum, it was one bad inning that doomed the Syracuse (50-31, 4-3) starter, Mike Vasil. The right-hander from the greater Boston area allowed all three of his runs in the third inning via a sacrifice fly from Nathan Hickey and a two-out, two-run double from Jamie Westbrook. Aside from that rough third frame, Vasil turned in a quality outing, tossing six innings and surrendering just the three runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The former Virginia Cavalier also threw a season-high 98 pitches, 68 of which were strikes.

The game remained knotted at three into the top of the eighth, when the WooSox grabbed a two-run lead on a two-run homer from Jamie Westbrook. After a one-out walk by Nathan Hickey put a runner on base, Westbrook’s homer over the left-field fence gave the Red Sox a 5-3 advantage and put a capper on Westbrook’s excellent night. The 29-year-old from Arizona, who made his MLB debut with Boston earlier this season, finished the game 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and four runs driven in.

The Worcester bullpen shut the game down from there as Chase Shugart worked a scoreless eighth, and then Lucas Luetge pitched a clean ninth to ensure the WooSox would win the series opener. The Mets offense recorded just one hit in the final four innings as the final nine batters of the game went down in order.

The Syracuse Mets begin their holiday week with three home games against the Triple-A of the Boston Red Sox, the Worcester Red Sox. Game two is slated for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday. Right-hander Dom Hamel is expected to start for the Mets opposite right-hander Bryan Mata for the WooSox.