Home Run Fest Lifts Mets over RailRiders Tuesday

Box Score

Syracuse, NY – Powered by a pair of home runs from Hayden Senger, the Syracuse Mets held on to defeat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 8-6, on Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium.

Syracuse (8-8) got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. MJ Melendez led off with a triple, and Nick Morabito followed with a sacrifice fly, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (9-7) answered in the second. After a walk and a single, Spencer Jones stole home as part of a double steal, tying the game, 1-1.

The Mets responded in a big way in the bottom of the second inning. Vidal Bruján singled to start the rally, and Hayden Senger launched a two-run homer to left-center field. Immediately after, Melendez followed with a solo shot, stretching the Syracuse lead to 4-1.

After a scoreless third and fourth, the RailRiders stormed back in the fifth. Ernesto Martinez Jr. hit a two-run homer, Payton Henry added a solo shot, and a pair of RBI hits later in the inning gave Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 6-6 tie.

Syracuse answered in the bottom of the sixth inning. Christian Arroyo doubled to lead off, and José Rojas crushed a two-run homer to right-center field, putting the Mets back in front, 8-6.

Jonah Tong registered 10 strikeouts across five innings in his fourth start of the season. The right-hander notched his first double-digit strikeout appearance of the season.

Dan Hammer took over to record the final out of the fifth inning. The bullpen held the RailRiders off the scoreboard. Brandon Waddell earned the win in his first outing of the season, tossing two innings with two strikeouts. Anderson Severino picked up his second save of the season with four strikeouts in two innings.

Syracuse continues its series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night. Elmer Rodriguez is slated to pitch for the RailRiders and Christian Scott is the projected starter for the Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.