Syracuse 13 - Pawtucket 4

Pawtucket, RI (May 31, 2019) - Travis Taijeron hit for the cycle on Friday night for the Syracuse Mets en route to a 13-4 Mets victory against the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy stadium. Taijeron is the first Syracuse player to hit for the cycle since Sil Campusano did it 32 years ago on August 25, 1987 at Richmond.

Syracuse (28-25) got the scoring started quickly in the top of the first inning. Rajai Davis hit the second pitch of the game over the left-field fence for a home run and 1-0 Syracuse lead.

The Mets added another run in the second. Luis Guillorme singled to start the frame and moved to second on a wild pitch. Travis Taijeron followed with an RBI single to right-center field for a 2-0 edge. 

Syracuse broke the game open in the third. Rubén Tejada doubled, and René Rivera walked. Two batters later, Danny Espinosa delivered a three-run home run to center field, extending the lead to 5-0. From there, Guillorme walked, and Taijeron drove in his second run of the game on a triple to push the score to 6-0. Then, after Grégor Blanco walked, Tim Tebow singled to left to score Taijeron for the fifth run of the inning and a 7-0 Mets advantage.

In the fifth, Taijeron and Tebow walked, and Davis singled to load the bases. Tejada hit a ground ball to short leading to an error by Mike Miller, allowing Tejada to reach base and Taijeron to score to make it an 8-0 ballgame. Then, Rivera was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home another run, extending the Mets edge to 9-0.

Pawtucket (21-31) finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on a Gorkys Hernandez home run, his fourth homer of the season, trimming the Syracuse advantage to eight, 9-1.

The Mets were quick to answer though. With Espinosa and Guillorme aboard, Taijeron hit a three-run home run to right-center field to push the lead out to eleven, 12-1.

The Red Sox scored another run in the eighth. Oscar Hernandez doubled, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a Jantzen Witte single to pull Pawtucket within ten, 12-2.

Syracuse added an extra run in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Guillorme and Taijeron both walked. Blanco followed with a single to left field that brought home Guillorme for a 13-2 lead.

Pawtucket loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and scored two runs because of a throwing error by Syracuse reliever Ryan O’Rourke to make the final score 13-4 as O'Rourke retired the next batter he faced to end the ballgame.

The Mets and Red Sox continue their three-game series on Saturday night. RHP Zach Lee will be on the mound for Syracuse. First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m.