Martinez collects two hits, Hamel stars on mound as Syracuse one-hits Columbus, 4-0

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets received star turns from their cameoing Big Leaguer and one of their top pitching prospects as the Mets cruised to a 4-0 win over the Columbus Clippers on a chilly Wednesday night in the Salt City. The Mets have now nabbed the first two games of the weeklong, six-game series against visiting Columbus.

In the bottom of the first, Syracuse (12-9) got right to it via a powerful swing from a six-time MLB All-Star. J.D. Martinez, in the second and likely final game of his optional assignment, drove in a run for the second straight night. With Luisangel Acuña on first base and one out, Martinez smacked a double over the left fielder’s head and off the base of the outfield wall, scoring the speedy Acuña easily and giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Martinez was in the thick of the action yet again. Acuña led off the inning with a bunt single, followed by a Rylan Bannon single that put runners on second and first with nobody out. Martinez then came to plate and smoked a groundball up the middle at 109 miles per hour off the bat – it glanced off the infielder’s glove and rolled softly into center field, allowing Acuña to score easily and make it a 2-0 game. A Mark Vientos single immediately followed to drive in Bannon and make it 3-0. Later in the inning, a Luke Ritter flyout advanced Martinez to third before Martinez then scored on an RBI groundout from Trayce Thompson for a 4-0 Syracuse advantage.

That would cap off the Mets’ scoring at four runs for the evening, and that would be plenty. Their pitching staff was utterly remarkable, started off brilliantly by Dom Hamel. The right-hander tossed five and one-third scoreless innings, allowing just one hit (an infield single) and two walks. One night after Christian Scott struck out eight batters, his fellow top pitching prospect, Hamel, equaled the feat. Five of Hamel’s eight strikeouts were swinging, and the final 12 batters he faced did not get a hit.

From there, the Syracuse Mets bullpen took over and continued to nullify the Columbus (8-14) batters. Tyler Jay, Danny Young, and Cole Sulser tossed the final three and two-thirds innings in perfect fashion without any hits, walks, or runs allowed while striking out three batters in the processThe final 25 batters of the game for the Clippers came to the plate in Wednesday night’s game without getting a hit.

Syracuse is home all week against the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, the Columbus Clippers. Game three of the six-game series is scheduled for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Thursday night with left-hander Joey Lucchesi scheduled to start for the Mets.