Press Release: Vance Worley provides solid start, but Syracuse Mets fall to Red Wings in series opener, 3-1

 

Rochester, NY - Despite a great outing from Syracuse starting pitcher Vance Worley, the Rochester Red Wings beat the Syracuse Mets, 3-1, at Frontier Field in Rochester on Tuesday night in the series opener (Box Score). Worley delivered seven innings, allowing only two runs and six hits while walking just one batter and striking out one. On the other side, Rochester starter Ben Braymer threw six innings of shutout baseball, allowing only two hits while walking four and striking out three. 

Rochester (31-43) finally put a run on the board in the bottom of the fifth after four scoreless innings. Humberto Arteaga led off with a double, and Ali Castillo followed with a single, advancing Arteaga to third. After Braymer lined out, Lance Thomas connected on a single to left field, scoring Arteaga to give Rochester a 1-0 lead. 

The Red Wings added another run in the sixth with a Brandon Snyder one-out solo home run to hand the Red Wings a 2-0 advantage. The homer was Snyder's eleventh of the season.

After Braymer's outing, Alberto Baldonado and Ronald Peña combined to pitch a scoreless seventh for the Red Wings. Tanner Rainey then came out of the bullpen and delivered a scoreless frame in the eighth inning. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Keibert Ruiz led off with a home run to make it 3-0 Rochester.

Syracuse (26-51) came to bat in the top of the ninth still trailing 3-0, and Rochester reliever Aaron Barrett came in looking for the save. Wilfredo Tovar led off the frame with a single, and then with Travis Blankenhorn at the plate, Tovar stole second base. After Blankenhorn struck out, Mazeika grounded out for the second out, but Tovar was able to move to third base on the play. With Khalil Lee batting, Barrett threw a wild pitch, allowing Tovar to come home and score for the Mets' first run, cutting the deficit to two, 3-1. However, Lee then struck out for the game's final out.

The Mets and Red Wings return to Frontier Field for game two of the six-game series on Wednesday afternoon. Right-hander Jerad Eickoff makes the start for Syracuse against Rochester southpaw Matt Tomshaw. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.