Red Wings Fall To Mets In Opening Day Matineé, 6-3

The Rochester Red Wings fell to the Syracuse Mets in their Opening Day matchup, 6-3, Friday afternoon. RF James Wood picked up his first Triple-A hit, a double that was the Wings' only extra-base hit of the day, while 2B Jake Alu and SS Jack Dunn paced the offense with two singles apiece. LHP Richard Bleier, RHP Luis Reyes, and RHP Jacob Barnes each delivered scoreless outings in relief.

Following a scoreless first, the Mets jumped on the board in the bottom of the second inning. After back-to-back walks and a single, C Austin Allen scored RF Trayce Thompson on a sacrifice fly to right field. CF Drew Gilbert was then hit by a pitch, and 2B Luisangel Acuna plated a pair on an infield fielding error. RHP Joan Adon was able to escape without further damage, keeping the Syracuse lead at 3-0 after two innings.

Syracuse added to their lead in the third inning. 3B Mark Vientos opened the frame with a walk and was moved to second on a single from LF Ben Gamel. SS Jose Iglesias then slashed a single of his own to left field, scoring Vientos to push the Mets lead to four.

With two outs in the fourth, the Red Wings scored their first run of the season. DH Travis Blankenhorn was walked on six pitches, and LF Alex Callbrought him around to score on a fielding error. Call reached second on the play, but the Mets got out of the inning with their lead still at 4-1.

Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuña responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning with back-to-back solo home runs on back-to-back pitches. Both home runs went 380 feet, Gilbert’s to right and Acuña’s to center. At the end of four innings, the Mets' lead stood at 6-1.

Following three scoreless innings, the Red Wings put up another run in the eighth. CF Jacob Young singled, and James Wood picked up his first Triple-A hit with a double down the right-field line. 1B Juan Yepez proceeded to score Young on a groundout to short to make it 6-2 Syracuse in the eighth inning.

3B Carter Kieboom and Jake Alu laced back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth. After a fielder’s choice from C Drew Millas put runners on the corners, Jack Dunn drove in Kieboom with his second hit of the day to make the score 6-3. The late rally ultimately fell short for the Wings, dropping game one of the series, 6-3.

Joan Adon took the ball to start the game for Rochester, becoming the first Wings starter to make back-to-back Opening Day starts since PJ Walker in 2012 and 2013. The Dominican Republic native worked 2.1 innings, allowing two earned on four hits while walking three and striking out two. RHP Robert Gsellman was first out of the bullpen, making his Red Wing debut and first MiLB appearance since June 29, 2022, with Iowa (CHC). The right-hander covered 2.1 innings, allowing two earned on two hits while striking out two and walking a pair. He was followed by LHP Richard Bleier and RHP Luis Reyes, who turned in 1.1 and 1.0 scoreless innings, respectively. RHP Jacob Barnes pitched a scoreless bottom half of the eighth to hold Syracuse to six runs.

The Opening Day Diamond Pro Player of the Game goes to SS Jack Dunn. The Georgia native went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and an RBI, marking his first career multi-hit game on Opening Day.

Rochester looks to pick up their first win of 2024 on Saturday afternoon. RHP Thaddeus Ward is slated to toe the rubber for the Red Wings for his Triple-A debut, against Mets RHP José Buttó. First Pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.