Top prospects Syndergaard, Plawecki excel for Vegas

The battery of Noah Syndergaard and Kevin Plawecki, the Mets' top two prospects, according to MLB.com, combined Wednesday to lead Triple-A Las Vegas to an 8-3 victory against Round Rock. Syndergaard struck out nine batters and held the Express to one run in 6 2/3 innings, while Plawecki led the 51s offense with two home runs.

Syndergaard, ranked No. 12 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, scattered seven hits and one walk. He threw 110 pitches and picked up his first victory since July 22. His nine strikeouts were his second-highest total of the season and the most since he whiffed 10 batters May 10 against Tacoma.

With Wednesday's victory, Syndergaard improved to 9-7 with a 4.76 ERA in 25 starts this season. He also moved atop the Pacific Coast League's strikeout leaderboard, with 144 in 131 innings.

In addition to guiding Syndergaard through his start, Plawecki, No. 62 on the Top 100, went 4-for-4 at the plate. He drove in three runs and scored twice. It was his first two-homer game since Aug. 19, 2012, when he was playing for short-season Brooklyn in the New York-Penn League.

Plawecki began the season with Double-A Binghamton and earned a promotion in June. Between the two levels, he is hitting .318/.373/.475 with 11 home runs in 98 games.