Syracuse falters late in 11-2 loss at Rochester on Wednesday afternoon

Rochester, NY – The Syracuse Mets were haunted by missed opportunities in an 11-2 loss to the Rochester Red Wings on a warm Wednesday afternoon in Western New York. Despite the lopsided margin, the Mets had their chances in the loss. Syracuse allowed eight unanswered runs in the last two trips to the plate for the Red Wings, with seven of those eight runs coming on two-out hits for Rochester. The Mets also left 12 men on base in the game, the second straight game in which Syracuse has left double-digit runners on base.

Syracuse (64-50, 18-22), fresh off a frustrating 8-1 loss on Tuesday night, got a run across in the top of the first to take an early lead. The Mets loaded up the bases with two outs and then got a run home when Jackie Bradley Jr.’s infield single scored Brett Baty from third and made it a 1-0 game. However, the Mets did leave the bases loaded in the top of the first, marking the fourth different half inning in the first ten of the week in which they Syracuse the bags full.

In the bottom of the third, Rochester (62-52, 24-17) tied the game up. With runners on first and second base and two outs, Darren Baker hit a single into shallow left field. With the runner from second base, Jackson Cluff, rounding third and trying to score, Yolmer Sánchez threw a perfect toss to home plate that appeared to get Cluff at home plate as he went standing into the bag. However, Cluff was ruled safe for game-tying run and an RBI single for Baker. After the next batter grounded out to end the inning, Mets starting pitcher Brandon Sproat was ejected from the game protesting the safe call, and pitching coach Grayson Crawford was ejected protesting Sproat being ejected from the game.

In the top of the fifth, the Mets got aggressive and tried to grab the lead back. A two-out double from Luke Ritter extended the inning, followed by a single into shallow left from Carlos Cortes. Ritter tried to score on the play, but Baker threw a perfect strike from the outfield to nab Ritter easily at home plate and keep the game tied, 1-1.

In the bottom of the sixth the home team grabbed the lead. An RBI single from Joey Gallo gave Rochester a 2-1 advantage, followed by a wild pitch later in the inning that scored a run to make it a 3-1 ballgame.

The Mets did get a run right back in emphatic fashion in the top of the seventh. With two outs and nobody out, Baty launched a 440-foot home run over the right-field fence to trim the deficit right back down to a run at 3-2. Baty’s moonshot was his third big fly in his last four games and traveled an astounding 115 miles per hour off of his bat.

In the bottom of the seventh, the game unraveled for the Mets. Matt Gage was in out of the bullpen and had Brady House in a 3-2 count with runners on first and second in a two-out scenario. House then ripped a double all the way to the right-field wall, scoring both runners to push the lead to 5-2. That was immediately followed by a two-run homer from Joey Gallo (again in a two-strike count) to make it a 7-2 game. From there, Joey Meneses was hit by a pitch, Trey Lipscomb doubled, and Jackson Cluff doubled them both home with a drive off the base of the right-field wall. By the end of the inning, the Red Wings had scored six runs on five hits and sent ten men to the plate. The six-run barrage pushed the lead to 9-2, with all six of those runs coming with two outs.

The Wings put the cherry on top of the sundae with two final runs in the bottom of the eight to finish off the day’s scoring at 11-2. House drove in another run in the eighth, continuing his utter tear to start the week. The 21-year-old, widely considered to be one of the top prospects in all of Minor League Baseball, has gone 4-for-9 with three doubles, a home run, four runs scoredm and four runs driven in. It was ultimately a balanced attack for Rochester on Wednesday afternoon, however, as six different players had hits and every single starter reached base at least once. In fact, five different players reached base multiple times in the game.

The Syracuse Mets are on the road all week, taking on the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, the Rochester Red Wings. Game three of the six-game series is set for 6:45 p.m. first pitch on Thursday.