Tidwell shines, Gilbert homers again as Syracuse rolls to 10-3 win on Saturday night over Charlotte

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets offense continued their late-season surge on Saturday night, racking up ten more runs in a 10-3 thumping of the Charlotte Knights on a warm September night in the Salt City. The Mets have now scored 81 runs in their past eight games. The final series of the season is now in favor of the Mets with Syracuse winning three of the first five games against Charlotte.

Syracuse (77-71, 31-43) put the hammer down in the very first inning, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first to put the game away before it seemingly even got started. The Mets benefited from Charlotte (68-78, 35-37) pitching that showed a complete inability to attack the strike zone. The Knights walked seven of the 14 Mets batters that eventually came to the plate. In fact, Syracuse had five separate bases-loaded walks in the frame that brought home runs. It wasn’t all walks that scored the runs, however, as JT Schwartz had an RBI double, and José Azocar had a two-run single to help the cause in the mammoth beginning for the Mets for an 8-0 lead.

All that scoring immediately followed a brief Kodai Senga rehab start. Senga pitched a scoreless first for the Mets with one walk and two strikeouts. The former All-Star threw 15 pitches, eight of which were strikes.

The fun resumed for the Mets in the bottom of the third as Drew Gilbert’s red-hot weekend continued. After a one-out single from Jett Williams, Gilbert crushed a two-run homer over the right-field fence, his second straight game with a home run. The home run turned it into a 10-1 game. Gilbert, fresh off a 3-for-4 night on Friday with a home run and five runs driven in, kept the party going on Saturday night. Gilbert finished tonight’s game 1-for-3 at the plate with two walks, a home run, two runs scored, and three runs driven in.

From there, it was the Blade Tidwell show for Syacuse. The “piggybacking” pitcher after Senga pitched the first inning and Trey McLoughlin pitched the second, Tidwell turned in maybe his best overall outing of the 2024 season. Tidwell pitched six innings of two-run ball for the Mets, allowing just three hits without a single walk. The best part? Blade struck out ten batters, a new career-high for an outing at the Triple-A level. In fact, it tied a season-high for strikeouts in an outing. Tidwell struck out ten batters in his second start of the season for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies on April 16th.

The Syracuse Mets conclude the 2024 season at NBT Bank Stadium on Sunday against the Charlotte Knights. Right-hander Mike Vasil is expected to start on the mound for the Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.