Wings Fall to Mets in Extras, 9-8

Wings Fall to Mets in Extras, 9-8
Ureña Strikes Out Career-High Nine in Walk-Off Loss

The Rochester Red Wings fell to the Syracuse Mets, 9-8, in 10 innings Saturday night. Seven of the Wings’ nine hitters collected a hit, while RHP José Ureña fanned a career-high nine batters in his start.

The Red Wings got out to a first-inning lead Saturday night for the second-straight game against the Mets. LF Travis Blankenhorn gave Rochester a 1-0 lead when he drove in CF Derek Hill on an RBI double, marking his 11th RBI and fourth double through 14 games against his former team. The Mets knotted the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning when RF Abraham Almonte launched a solo home run.

Rochester quickly retook the lead, gaining a 2-1 advantage when Hill drove in SS Richie Martin on an RBI double. The Wings tacked on another run on the next at bat when 3B Erick Mejia plated Hill on a sacrifice fly out to center field. Syracuse cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single from SS Jonathan Araúz, but Rochester added back another run in the sixth, retaking a 4-2 lead on a pair of errors from the Mets.

Mejia drove in Hill on an RBI single, moving the Wings’ lead to 5-2 in his third multi-RBI game in July. Syracuse tacked on a third run in the bottom half of the inning on a solo home run from CF Rafael Ortetga. In the top of the sixth, Rochester responded, following up a Mets’ run with a run of their own for the third time Saturday night. Martin plated 2B Jeter Downs on an RBI single to give the Wings a 6-3 lead. The Mets added a fourth run back in the bottom of the sixth inning when Almonte launched his second solo home run of the night.

Syracuse tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a two-run home run from LF Ronny Mauricio.

Downs broke the tie in the top of the ninth inning with a solo home run over the left-center field wall, his first long ball since 7/17/22 with Boston, to give the Wings the lead, marking the Wings’ only homer of the night. C Jacob Nottingham tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single that drove in Hill to give the Wings an 8-6 lead.

The Mets responded in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game on a two-RBI single from Mauricio. After the Wings were unable to push a run across in the top half of the 10th, Rochester native DH Danny Mendick snuck a single up the middle to score PR Jaylin Davis from second base and lift the Mets to a win.

RHP José Ureña started for the Wings and worked five full innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out a career-high nine batters in the win. RHP Luis Cessa and LHP Tim Cate combined to pitch two innings out of the bullpen, allowing three runs while striking out three. RHP Luis Reyes worked a scoreless inning of relief while striking out two batters. RHP Gerson Moreno *worked the ninth inning, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out two. RHP *Daniel Mengden (0-1, 5.79) pitched the 10th inning, allowing the winning run to score after throwing just three pitches.

Jeter Downs earned Saturday night’s Diamond Pro Player of the game honors after he went 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two runs scored. The ninth-inning go-ahead long ball from Downs marked his first since 7/17/22 and was the first go-ahead home run on the road in the ninth inning or later by a Wings hitter since *Nick Banks *on 9/20/22 at BUF.

Rochester went 2-for-2 on ABS Challenges, while the Mets finished 0-for-2.

Rochester will cap off their three-game series with the Mets tomorrow afternoon. LHP Anthony Banda will start for the Wings against Syracuse’s RHP Mike Vasil. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

Find the box score attached here.