Jacksonville, FL – The Syracuse Mets closed out their series in Jacksonville with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Jumbo Shrimp on Sunday evening at VyStar Ballpark. The game began after an hour and a half rain delay, and Syracuse’s pitching staff held Jacksonville to just one run to secure the series victory.
Syracuse struck first in the top of the second. Shawn Ross drew a one-out walk before Jose Ramos reached on a forceout and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hayden Senger followed with a two-out RBI single into center field, scoring Ramos and giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.
Jacksonville answered immediately in the bottom of the inning. Kemp Alderman led off with his 17th home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center field that tied the game, 1-1. Matthew Etzel followed with a double, but Jonah Tong struck out Gage Miller and Jared Serna before retiring Garret Forrester on a flyout to strand Etzel.
From there, the pitching staffs traded zeroes but the Mets finally broke the tie in the seventh. Short led off with a single and Ronny Mauricio followed with another single, moving Short to third. Nick Morabito walked to load the bases before Wagaman lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Short and putting Syracuse in front, 2-1.
Tong turned in a strong start, allowing one run on three hits over 4.2 innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Jacques retired the only batter he faced with a strikeout. Hammer tossed one scoreless inning with one walk, while Metoyer worked one scoreless inning with one walk and one strikeout. Ross finished the game with two perfect innings and one strikeout.
Syracuse opens a six-game series against the Worcester Red Sox on Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.