Syracuse 6 - Pawtucket 5

PC - Reese Kaplan

Syracuse, NY (April 7, 2019) - The Syracuse Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead against the Pawtucket Red Sox and then held on for a 6-5 victory on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 6,761 at NBT Bank Stadium. David Thompson had two hits and three RBIs in the win. With the victory, the Mets won three out of four games against the Red Sox in this series. 

Syracuse (3-1) scored the decisive run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With the score tied, 5-5, Dilson Herrera led off with a double. Colton Plaia laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Herrera to third base. Thompson followed with a double off the left-field wall that scored Herrera to give Syracuse a 6-5 lead.

The Mets jumped out to a lead in the second inning. Adeiny Hechavarría doubled to lead off the inning, his fourth straight game with a hit to open the season. After Plaia singled two batters later, Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Hechavarria and make the score 1-0.

The Mets broke the game open in the third. Danny Espinosa singled to lead off the inning, matching Hechavarría with a hit in each of the first four games of his season. Travis Taijeron then walked with one out and Hechavarria walked with two outs to load the bases. Herrera followed by lining a double to left field to score all three runners and push the Mets advantage to 4-0.

Pawtucket (1-2) threatened in the the of the sixth. After two errors and a single, the PawSox loaded the bases with one out. The Mets summoned Ryan O’Rourke out of the bullpen, and the southpaw struck out Josh Ockimey and Tony Renda to end the threat and keep the shutout for the time being.

The Red Sox did break through in the seventh. Mike Miller led off with a single. Sandy Leon followed with a groundout into a fielder’s choice where Miller was out at second, but Leon was safe at first. Cole Sturgeon followed with a walk, and Rusney Castillo singled to load the bases. Gorkys Hernandez then tripled down the left-field line, scoring all three runners to cut the Syracuse lead to two, 5-3. Michael Chavis followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Hernandez from third to make it a 5-4 ballgame. Sam Travis continued the inning with a single and then scored on a Josh Ockimey double to center field, tying the game, 5-5.

After Syracuse took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, reliever Arquimedes Caminero came into the game and pitched a scoreless ninth to collect his second save of the season and preserve the 6-5 win.

The Mets turn to their second series of the season and welcome the Rochester Red Wings to Syracuse Monday night. RHP Chris Flexen is scheduled to start for Syracuse opposite LHP Justin Nicolino for Rochester. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.