8/8/21

Press Release: Syracuse surrenders five-run lead, drops series finale to Rochester, 7-6



Rochester, NY - The Syracuse Mets took a five-run lead into the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon, but the Rochester Red Wings came all the way back to win, 7-6, after a Jecksson Flores walk-off double at Frontier Field (Box Score). On the bright side for Syracuse, Jesús Reyes delivered another excellent outing, throwing five innings, allowing just one run on two hits while walking two and striking out five. In his last three starts, Reyes has a 1.20 ERA, allowing just two runs in 15 innings pitched.

Rochester (33-46) struck first with a run in the bottom of the second. Brandon Snyder led off with a walk, and then Derek Dietrich lined out. With Alex Dunlap at the plate, a wild pitch from Reyes allowed Snyder to move to second base. After Dunlap grounded out, Carlos Tocci hit an RBI single, scoring Snyder to make it 1-0 Red Wings. 

Syracuse (29-53) quickly tied things up in the top of the third when Cody Bohanek blasted a solo shot over the left-field wall for his first Triple-A home run that knotted the game up, 1-1.

The Mets added two more runs in the top of the fourth. Travis Blankenhorn hit a leadoff single, and then Cervenka flied out. Khalil Lee followed with a double to advance Blankenhorn to third base. Calixte then provided a sacrifice fly to bring home Blankenhorn and give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Mason Williams followed with a double, scoring Lee to make it 3-1 Syracuse.

In the top of the fifth, Mark Payton worked a one-out walk. After Wilfredo Tovar flied out for the second out, Blankenhorn connected on another single to put runners at first and second. Martin Cervenka then stepped in and launched a three-run homer to left field, his sixth home run of the season, to increase the lead to five, 6-1.

Rochester came all the way back in the eighth. Rafael Bautista and Blake Swihart led off the frame with a pair of singles. Flores then chopped a ball to Calixte a third, and Calixte's throw to first was errant, allowing both Bautista and Swihart to score and cut the deficit to 6-3 as Flores ended up all the way at third base on the error. Jake Noll followed with an RBI single to make it a two-run game, 6-4. After Daniel Palka grounded into a double play, Snyder was hit by a pitch. Trey Cobb then came in to pitch for the Mets, replacing Alex Sanabia, and the first batter Cobb faced, Derek Dietrich, hit a game-tying two-run homer to make it 6-6.

With the game still tied at six, Cobb returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to Tocci. Arteaga then tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but Tocci was thrown out at second base for a fielder's choice. After Swihart struck out, Flores drilled a ball down the left-field line, scoring Tocci to walk it off for Rochester as the Red Wings won, 7-6. The win for Rochester results in a series split as both teams won three games in the six-game series.

The Mets continue their 12-game road trip with a drive to Worcester, MA for a six-game series against the Worcester Red Sox. The action begins from Polar Park on Tuesday night at 6:35 p.m.

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