Late rally leads Syracuse to 4-2 win over Worcester on Thursday night

*Worcester, MA – *The Syracuse Mets combined stellar pitching with timely hitting en route to a 4-2 win over the Worcester Red Sox on Thursday night at Polar Park. With the win, the Mets secure a season series victory over the Red Sox with a 14-10 Syracuse record against Worcester in 2022 with three games left in the series.

Syracuse (61-83) struck in the top of the first inning, two batters into the game. Jake Mangum led off with a double that glanced off of Worcester second baseman Enmanuel Valdez’s glove, and Mangum moved to third base on the play when shortstop Ryan Fitzgerald made an errant throw to second base to try and beat Mangum. Dominic Smith followed with a line-drive single into center field, scoring Mangum for a 1-0 Syracuse lead.

Worcester (72-71) responded in the bottom of the first. Jarren Duran led off with a walk. Two batters later, Valdez ripped a double down the right-field line into the corner, scoring Duran from first base to knot the game up, 1-1.

That was the only run allowed by Mets starting pitcher Joey Lucchesi who made another Major League rehab appearance with Syracuse. The left-handed thrower allowed three hits, one walk, and the one run in two and one-third innings on the mound with one strikeout, throwing 47 pitches, including 26 strikes.

The Red Sox took the lead in the sixth. Ronaldo Hernandez walked, but Johan Mieses struck out for the first out of the inning. Then, Fitzgerald grounded into a fielder’s choice where Hernandez was out at second, but Fitzgerald was safe at first base and moved to second because of a missed catch error on Nick Meyer at first during a double play attempt by Syracuse. Pedro Castellanos followed with a single that scored Fitzgerald to give Worcester its first lead of the night, 2-1.

That unearned run was the only run given up by Jose Rodriguez who continued his best stretch of the year. The right-hander struck out three batters and allowed three hits, a walk, and the unearned run in three and one-third innings pitched. Since June 19th, Rodriguez has a 1.94 ERA in 41 and two-thirds innings pitched across 16 appearances. More recently, Rodriguez has a 1.00 ERA in 27 innings during his last seven appearances since August 14th with 20 strikeouts.

Syracuse’s bullpen continued with Grant Hartwig making his Triple-A debut, retiring all four batters he faced, including three in the seventh with strikeouts to hold the deficit at one.

The Mets offense responded in the seventh inning by tying the game. With two outs, Yolmer Sánchez singled to left field and advanced to second base on a fielding error by Jaylin Davis in left field. Then, Carlos Rincon doubled into the left-field corner, bringing home Sánchez to tie the game, 2-2.

Syracuse took the lead for good in the eighth. Deven Marrero led off with a walk. Meyer followed with a double to right-center field. Duran bobbled the ball while fielding it for an error that allowed Marrero to score from first base to give the Mets a 3-2 edge. Meyer moved to third base on a Mangum groundout to second base, and Smith knocked Meyer home with a single to right field for a 4-2 Syracuse advantage. Smith finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The Mets bullpen held the lead with Yoan López pitching a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth inning and R.J. Alvarez pitching a scoreless ninth after allowing a leadoff walk. Syracuse’s bullpen as not allowed an earned run this series in ten and two-thirds innings pitched.

Syracuse continues its six-game series against Worcester with the fourth game of the series on Friday. First pitch is slated for 6:45 p.m.