Syracuse Mets beat Rochester, 8-5

Box score

Syracuse, New York – The Syracuse Mets jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and never looked back en route to an 8-5 victory over the Rochester Red Wings on Saturday night at NBT Bank Stadium. With the win, Syracuse moves to a new high of 24 games above .500 this season. The Mets also move into a tie for first place in the second half of the International League standings.

Syracuse (59-35, 13-7) got on the board in the first inning. Luisangel Acuña led off with a double and two batters later Brett Baty singled to score Acuña for a 1-0 Syracuse lead.

The Mets added runs in the second. With one out, JT Schwartz hit a ball over the wall in right-center field for his first Triple-A home run and a 2-0 Syracuse lead. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Baty singled to right field, scoring both Matt O’Neill and Acuña to make it a 4-0 game.

In the third inning, Cortes led off with a walk and scored on a Schwartz double to right-center field for a 5-0 Syracuse lead. Austin Allen followed with a two-run homer over the right-field wall to put the Mets up 7-0.

Meanwhile, Kodai Senga got off to another Major League rehab start for Syracuse strong with three scoreless innings. Unfortunately, things began to unravel in the top of the fourth inning. Rochester (51-42, 13-7) collected five straight hits and had seven consecutive batters reach base to open the frame with five runs scored to cut Syracuse’s lead to two, 7-5. Brady House hit a three-run homer and Dylan Crews had an RBI single in the inning. House and Crews are two of the top three prospects in the Washington Nationals organization.

Senga finished the game with three innings pitched plus the batters he faced in the fourth inning, allowing eight hits and five runs, walking three batters and striking out one. Senga threw 79 pitches, including 57 strikes.

Syracuse responded to Rochester’s scoring frenzy with a run in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Luke Ritter drew a walk. Two batters later, with two outs, Mike Brosseau doubled to the right-field corner, scoring Ritter and giving the Mets a three-run lead, 8-5.

From there, Syracuse’s bullpen turned it all up. Eric Orze, Bryce Montes de Oca, Alex Young, Wilkin Ramos and Cole Sulser combined to throw six scoreless innings, giving up just one hit, to secure an 8-5 victory for the Mets.

Syracuse and Rochester conclude their three-game series on Sunday. Right-hander Dom Hamel is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mets opposite right-hander Thaddeus Ward of the Red Wings. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.