Mengden throws team-leading fourth quality start in win over Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Storm Chasers (49-48) used three homers and a quality start to top the Syracuse Mets (44-54) 6-3. The Chasers hold a 3-2 series lead and look to win their first road series of the season.

Center fielder Drew Waters hit the first pitch of the game into right field to reach base for the 15th consecutive game. Waters is has reached base in all 14 games that he played for Omaha paired with his last game with Gwinnett before being traded to the Royals’ organization. Omaha came away empty in the inning, leaving the scoreboard still.

Syracuse put a rally together and capitalized on a Chaser throwing error and take an early 1-0 lead.

Left fielder Brewer Hicklen reached to start the second inning on an error from Syracuse before second baseman Clay Dungan was hit by a pitch to put the first two runners on without getting a hit. Hicklen moved to third on a flyout from shortstop Iván Castillo to put runners at the corners.

Omaha knotted the score with a double from catcher José Briceño that scored Hicklen easily from third, but Dungan was thrown out at home to end the inning, trying to give the Chasers a lead.

Right-hander Daniel Mengden started the game for Omaha and came out in the bottom of the second and struck out the S-Mets in order to keep Syracuse from putting more runs on the board.

Waters recorded his second hit of the game to lead off the third, this time launching his eighth homer at Triple-A over the right field wall to give Omaha a 2-1 lead.

Briceño threw out a pair of runners in the fourth inning, catching an S-Met stealing second and picking off another who took a little bit to big of a lead from third to help Omaha keep the score at 2-1.

Waters decided that one home run in the game was not enough, hitting his second of the night in the fifth inning that pushed the Chasers lead to two runs. Waters becomes the 12th Chaser to record a multi-home run game.

Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera hit a single in frame, but Omaha was not able to extend the lead after a groundout. Rivera was playing in his first game back at Triple-A after spending a long time in The Show with the Royals.

Mengden (Win, 6-4) would use a six-pitch sixth inning to get through 6.0 innings, allowing on unearned run with five strikeouts in his team-leading fourth quality start.

Syracuse put up a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to cut Omaha’s lead to a pair.

Hicklen hit a full count homer in the eighth to push the score to 5-2 in favor of Omaha.

Briceño hit his third double of the night to start the ninth. Designated hitter Michael Massey came through with a double of his own to put the Chasers lead at 6-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Right-hander Ándres Núñez came in to pitch the ninth. His 22-game scoreless streak, the longest in the International League to start the season, was ended at 27.0 innings, allowing a run with two away in the ninth. Omaha held on to get the win 6-3.

The Storm Chasers and S-Mets will finish their six-game series Sunday with a 12:05 p.m. CDT first pitch. Coverage will start on the Sarpy County Tourism Pregame Show on 1180 The Zone at 11:45 a.m. Omaha is scheduled to send left-hander Daniel Lynch (0-0, 3.86) to the mound for another rehab start while Syracuse looks to send Tim Adleman to the mound.

Omaha will return to Werner Park for a six-game set against St. Paul the first week of August. Thursday, August 4 is Military Appreciation night presented by RTG Medical with special events scheduled to show our appreciation for the military.

The full 2022 schedule can be found here and single-game tickets are now available here.

For more tickets and more information, please visit omahastormchasers.com, call the Werner Park Ticket office at (402) 738-5100, and follow the team on social media. You can follow the team on Twitter @omastormchasers, on Instagram @omahastormchasers, and “like” the team on Facebook at facebook.com/omahastormchasers.