After the rain washed out Wednesday night’s game, the Rochester Red Wings (35-24, 80-52) and the Syracuse Mets (32-26, 70-63) clashed for the second game of their six-game series in Central New York. The Wings ran into a dominant Syracuse pitching staff and were held scoreless in a 4-0 loss in the second game of the series. LF Phillip Glasser logged a pair of base hits, and 2B Cayden Wallace extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the loss.
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The Mets struck first in the bottom of the second as 2B Vidal Bruján slapped a one-out single down the right-field line, and LF Ryan Clifford walked, putting two Mets on the basepaths. C Hayden Senger then knuckled an infield single up the middle, and the bouncing ball led Bruján to aggressively round third and come in to score the game’s first run on a fielding error. Two batters later, CF D’Andre Smith slapped a single up the middle, cashing Clifford and giving Syracuse a 2-0 lead.
Rochester dipped into the bullpen in the bottom of the fifth, and the new arm was welcomed by a leadoff single up the middle, off the bat of RF MJ Melendez. The Florida native moved to second on a groundout to short; Vidal Bruján then drew a five-pitch walk, and Ryan Clifford slapped a single up the middle, bringing Melendez home, to stretch the Syracuse lead to 3-0.
The Mets grabbed some insurance in the bottom of the seventh as MJ Melendez ripped the first pitch he saw down the right-field line, hopping over the fence for an automatic double. 1B Eric Wagaman then immediately torched a double into the left-center gap, bringing home Melendez and extending the Syracuse lead to 4-0.
Down to their final three outs, Rochester looked for a miracle in game two of the series. Cayden Wallace led off the inning with a single through the left side, but would be stranded right there, as Syracuse’s RHP Chayce McDermott struck out three straight Wings, sealing a 4-0 victory for the Mets.
RHP Jack Cebert took the mound for his second Triple-A start, after being promoted to Triple-A on 8/25. The Texas Tech product logged 4.0 innings, allowing two runs on six hits while walking four and striking out four. RHP Zak Kent was the first arm out of the bullpen for the Red Wings, tossing 1.0 inning, giving up an earned run on two hits, walking one. That gave way to RHP Eddy Yean, who twirled a scoreless sixth inning, walking one. RHP Gus Varland came on for the seventh, allowing a run on two hits, striking out one Met. RHP Yovanny Cruz was called on in the eighth inning, tossing a scoreless inning, striking out a pair and walking one.
LF Phillip Glasser is Thursday night’s player of the game, logging a 2-for-4 day with a double. The former Indiana Hoosier has now played 17 games against Syracuse this season and has logged 20 hits against the Mets, carrying a batting average of .374 (20-for-54) including three doubles and a homer. A .374 batting average is the third-highest of any Red Wing in a single season against Syracuse since 2004, and the highest since OF David Winfree Jr. hit .383 in 2009.
The Wings will try to bounce back after a pair of losses to open up the series, as they meet the Mets for a doubleheader on Friday afternoon. RHP Isaac Lyon will meet Syracuse’s RHP Jack Wenninger in game one; first pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m. at NBT Bank Stadium.
Find the box score attached HERE.
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