Rochester, NY – After erupting for seven runs in the third inning and building a 7-1 lead, the Syracuse Mets could not hold off a surging Rochester team, falling 9-8 in 11 innings on Friday night at ESL Ballpark. Rochester erased the deficit with a six-run stretch from the third through seventh innings, tied the game on Yohandy Morales’ two-out solo homer in the ninth, and won it in the 11th on Phillip Glasser’s walk-off single.
Rochester (33-21) struck first in the opening inning. Morales doubled with two outs and scored on an RBI single by Abimelec Ortiz, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead.
Syracuse (28-26) exploded on offense in a massive third inning. Jihwan Bae walked and Kevin Parada singled before Jackson Cluff tied the game with an RBI single. Nick Morabito followed with a two-run double to put the Mets ahead, 3-1. Yonny Hernández then reached on a bunt single before Christian Arroyo crushed a three-run homer to left field. One batter later, Ryan Clifford launched a solo shot, capping a seven-run inning and extending the Syracuse lead to 7-1.
The Red Wings immediately started chipping away in the bottom of the third. Ortiz singled and Andrew Pinckney launched a two-run homer, trimming the deficit to 7-3.
Rochester pulled even closer in the fourth. Robert Hassell III doubled before Trey Lipscomb connected on a two-run homer, cutting the Mets lead to 7-5.
The Red Wings tied the game in the seventh inning. Harry Ford walked before Morales blasted a two-run homer to right field, evening the score at 7-7.
Syracuse regained the lead in the eighth. Bae singled and stole second before Parada ripped an RBI double to center field, putting the Mets back in front, 8-7.
Rochester answered again in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Morales launched his second homer of the night, a solo shot to center field off Dylan Ross, tying the game at 8-8 and forcing extra innings.
Both teams stranded the automatic runner in the 10th. Alex Carrillo escaped trouble for Syracuse by striking out Brady House with runners at second and third to keep the game tied.
In the 11th, Syracuse advanced the automatic runner to third on a sacrifice bunt by Parada, but Luke Young retired the next two hitters to escape the inning. In the bottom half, Riley Adams began at second and advanced to third on a throwing error during a pickoff attempt by Kevin Parada. After Christian Franklin walked and Morales was intentionally walked, Glasser lined a walk-off single to right field, giving Rochester the 9-8 victory.
On the mound, Xzavion Curry started for Syracuse and allowed five runs over four innings. Daniel Duarte tossed a scoreless fifth inning, Ben Simon worked a clean sixth, and Jonathan Pintaro surrendered the game-tying two-run homer in the seventh. Matt Turner pitched a scoreless eighth, Dylan Ross allowed the tying homer in the ninth, and Carrillo took the loss despite escaping the 10th inning jam.
Syracuse entered the night 3-0 in extra-inning games and had not allowed a run in extras all season.
Syracuse continues its series with Rochester on Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:45 p.m.