Syracuse powers past Worcester for 8-3 win on Friday night

Worcester, MA – With timely hitting and a strong day by the pitching staff, the Syracuse Mets took down the Worcester Red Sox 8-3 on Friday night at Polar Park. Five of Syracuse's ten hits on Friday were extra-base hits.

For the second consecutive game, Syracuse (11-14) opened the scoring in the top of the first inning. After Drew Gilbert walked, Joey Meneses brought Gilbert home with an RBI triple that put the Mets ahead, 1-0.

Worcester (14-10) matched the scoring in the bottom half of the inning and tied the game, 1-1.

In the third inning, the Mets put pressure on Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito. To begin the inning, Donovan Walton worked a walk, and Drew Gilbert knocked Walton in with an RBI double that made it 2-1. Soon after, Jon Singleton singled and moved Gilbert to third. With nobody out, Joey Meneses hit a sacrifice fly and scored Gilbert, extending the Syracuse lead to 3-1.

In the bottom of the inning, the Red Sox scored to make it 3-2 on an RBI groundout from Vaughn Grissom.

Giolito was pulled with two outs in the fourth inning and the Mets added some insurance runs right after. Billy McKinney singled, Gilberto Celestino walked, and Luke Ritter hit a two-run double to score the pair and go up 5-2. The next batter, Chris Williams, hit an RBI double that scored Ritter and put Syracuse up 6-2.

In the sixth inning, the Mets continued the two-out hitting. Singleton smacked his sixth home run of the season with a solo blast over the right field wall, giving Syracuse a 7-2 lead. Singleton had two hits on Friday and now has multiple hits in seven of his last nine games.

The Red Sox added one more run in the seventh inning with a run-scoring groundout by Abraham Toro that cut the Worcester deficit to 7-3.

To add some insurance, Syracuse tacked on one more run in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly from Ritter that put the Mets ahead, 8-3.

With eight runs, ten hits, and eight walks, every member of the Syracuse lineup reached base en route to the win. Gilbert and Singleton each had a pair of hits, while Ritter led the way with a season-high three RBIs.

On the mound, Brandon Waddell pitched four innings and only allowed one earned run in his start. The bullpen arms of Kevin Herget, Tyler Zuber, Dedniel Nuñez, and Genesis Cabrera combined for five innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts.

Syracuse continues its seven-game series against Worcester Saturday night with game six. Right-hander Blade Tidwell is slated to start for the Mets opposite left-hander Shane Drohan for the Red Sox with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m.