In a game that featured nine extra-base hits, six going for home runs, it was the Syracuse Mets (31-26, 69-63) who fended off the first-place Rochester Red Wings (35-23, 80-51) 7-4 in a slugfest. 2B Cayden Wallace, LF Phillip Glasser, and 1B Liover Peguero all hit home runs while four of five Red Wing relievers threw scoreless innings in the losing effort.
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The Mets started this one out with a bang, as SS Ronny Mauricio drilled a 1-1 changeup 104.7 MPH and 407 feet off the left field scoreboard to give Syracuse a one run advantage after an inning of action.
Syracuse kept the exit velo show going in the second. First, 1B Eric Wagaman launched a 109.8 MPH solo home run to extend the Mets lead until the next at-bat when DH Billy Amick shot his fifth round-tripper of the season over the 315 Bullpen Bar to make it 3-0 Syracuse.
The Mets continued their second inning offensive showcase with a single from 3B Nick Lorusso and a double courtesy of C Hayden Senger that set up second and third for 2B Zack Short who putted one into the right field gap, scoring two, making it 5-0 Metropolitans.
RF MJ Melendez led off the third Syracuse rally in the home half of the third with a double, then proceeded to move up 90 feet on a ground out before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Amick, his second RBI of the game.
Just as the Red Wings looked down and out of it in the top of the fourth, Cayden Wallce woke everyone up with a blast that clanked high off the left field foul pole. The solo shot got the Red Wings on the board while simultaneously extending his hitting streak to nine games. Rochester officially joined the multi-homer circus an at-bat later when Liover Peguero destroyed a curveball, sending it flirting with the left field jumbotron for a solo shot, making it 6-2 Syracuse.
Following two scoreless frames, Phillip Glasser got on top of a four seam fastball and drove it into the right field party deck for a two-run homer, his third of the campaign, making it a 6-4 ballgame after seven innings of play.
After allowing Rochester to crawl back into the ball game with four unanswered runs, Syracuse came back with an insurance run in the eighth. Nick Lorusso beat out a grounder to shortstop for an infield single before proceeding to steal second base a pitch later, putting him in scoring position for Hayden Senger. The backstop drove him home on a laser of a ground ball through the vacant right side, giving Syracuse a 7-4 lead.
RHP Brian Metoyer set down the Wings in the ninth, solidifying a 7-4 game one win for the Syracuse Mets.
Starting the first game of this six-game set in the Salt City was LHP DJ Herz, his second Major League rehab start with Red Wings and eighth of the season. The North Carolina native lasted 2.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits, with one strike out before giving way to bulk man RHP Andry Lara, who tossed 1.2 innings of one run ball on two hits and one strikeout. RHP Ben Grable became the third man called out of the bullpen in the fifth inning. The flamethrowing reliever fired a scoreless frame, facing just four Syracuse batters, on 16 pitches. Grable’s fellow trademate from the New York Yankees, LHP Jake Bird was called upon to pitch in the bottom half of the sixth. The southpaw threw up a zero, striking out two SMets in the frame, lowering his Triple-A ERA to 0.82. RHP Jack Sinclair came in with a clean slate in the seventh and retired the side in order on two ground outs and a strikeout. RHP Connor Van Scoyoc was the sixth and final Red Wings reliever of the night. The righty tossed a one-run eighth inning on two hits and one strikeout.
The Rochester Red Wings player of the game is 2B Cayden Wallace. The versatile infielder finished the contest 1-for-4 with a long home run that extended his hit streak to nine games. Over the span of his heater, the Arkansas native is slashing .485/.553/1.000.
Rochester will look to bounce back in the win column in game two of the series on Tuesday night. RHP Jack Cebert will head to the mound to make his second career Triple-A start, and opposing him for the Mets will be RHP Xzavion Curry. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.
Find the box score attached HERE.
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