Syracuse, NY – Matt Rudick delivered a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting the Syracuse Mets to a 3-2 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium. The one-run victory was Syracuse’s fourth walk-off win of the season.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (30-29) struck first in the third inning. George Lombard Jr. singled and later scored when Oswaldo Cabrera lined an RBI single to left field, giving the RailRiders a 1-0 lead.
The RailRiders added to their advantage in the fourth when Tyler Hardman launched a solo home run to right-center field, extending the lead to 2-0.
Syracuse (31-29) broke through in the fifth. Jackson Cluff singled and moved to second on a groundout by Rudick. Two batters later, Christian Arroyo crushed a two-run homer to center field, tying the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cristian Pache led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cluff. After a wild pitch advanced Pache to third, Rudick lined a single to right field, scoring Pache with the winning run and sending the Mets home victorious, 3-2.
On the mound, Xzavion Curry tossed his longest outing of the year. The right-hander worked five and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three. Tobias Myers followed with one and one-third scoreless innings, retiring all four batters he faced. Dylan Ross took over in the eighth and was dominant, striking out four of the six batters he faced across two perfect innings.
Yonny Hernández finished with three hits, while Rudick collected two hits, stole a base, and drove in the game-winning run.
Syracuse continues its series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday night. Right-hander Jack Wenninger is slated to start for the Mets opposite right-hander Brendan Beck for the RailRiders. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.