Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets came home to NBT Bank Stadium for the first time in the 2023 season and did not disappoint, claiming a 5-0 win over the Rochester Red Wings (Triple-A Washington Nationals) in front of nearly 6,000 fans on a pleasant early April day. The Mets scored four times in their final two trips to the plate to clinch the victory.
After holding Rochester (0-3) off the board in the top of the first inning, Syracuse (2-2) got right to work in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Brett Baty took a hanging breaking ball and lined it into right field for a single before stealing second base. After Francisco Álvarez struck out, Mark Vientos wouldn’t leave Baty hanging on the basepaths, pounding a double to right-center field that scored Baty and put the Mets right in front early, 1-0.
After that, the game would settle into a pitcher’s duel, as neither team would score again until the seventh inning. Syracuse’s pitching staff held the Red Wings in check all afternoon long. In the first seven innings, it was a three-man tag team of Alex Valverde (three scoreless innings), Bubby Rossman (two scoreless innings), and Eric Orze (two scoreless innings) that did not allow Rochester to cross home plate. Orze was particularly excellent, striking out four of the six total batters he faced, all of which were swinging strikeouts.
Beginning in the bottom of the seventh, the Mets cranked into gear to put the game away. First, Danny Mendick played hero in the bottom of the seventh. With Carlos Cortes on first and one out, he smacked a double into the right-center field gap, allowing Cortes to prance home and make it a 2-0 lead.
Then, in the eighth, Syracuse salted the game with three fateful runs. After a Vientos walk and a Jonathan Araúz strikeout, Ronny Mauricio laced a triple into deep centerfield, making it a 3-0 game as Vientos crossed home plate. The next batter, Khalil Lee, lofted a fly ball deep enough into left field to score Mauricio on a sacrifice fly and make it a 4-0 game, Finally, Lorenzo Cedrola manufactured a run when he walked, stole second, and scored on an RBI double from Cortes. Mauricio’s RBI triple and run scored came as a birthday present – he turned 22 on Tuesday.
Grant Hartwig tossed a scoreless eighth and Jimmy Yacabonis finished the job with a clean ninth to seal the deal for Syracuse. Hartwig has been particularly impressive in his first two outings of the season. The former undrafted free agent out of Miami (OH) has tossed two and two-thirds combined scoreless innings in two appearances this season with five strikeouts.
Syracuse continues its first homestand of the 2023 season on Wednesday afternoon against the Rochester Red Wings. Game two in the six-game series at NBT Bank Stadium is set for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday afternoon. Right-hander Humberto Mejia is scheduled to start for the Mets, opposed by right-hander Corey Abbott for the Red Wings.
Great outing by Eric Orze. Maybe we will see him in Queens soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Baty thumb that was operated on last year.
ReplyDeleteGoing to get MRI which is the proper next step.
I was impressed with Hartwig's amazing rapid move through the system last year, and he looks like he's continuing that improvement. He's my "sleeper" pick for 2023.
ReplyDelete