Vientos homers and doubles, but Syracuse drops Saturday matinee to Rochester, 6-2

Syracuse, NY – Mark Vientos doubled, homered, reached base three times, and scored twice, but the Syracuse Mets otherwise fell victim to some strong Rochester Red Wings pitching on Saturday afternoon, being held to just two runs on six hits in the midst of a 6-2 loss. The Mets had eight hits and two home runs in their season-opening 6-3 win on Friday afternoon.

Rochester (1-1) got on the board in the top of the first off Syracuse (1-1) starter José Butto with a little bit of fortuitous help. First, a pair of one-out singles from James Wood and Juan Yepez put two runners on base for the Red Wings, followed by a fielder’s choice groundout from Travis Blankenhorn that advanced Wood to third. Then, Jake Alu lofted a fly ball to center field that Drew Gilbert lost in the afternoon sunlight, allowing Wood to come home and score the game’s first run as the ball plopped harmlessly on the outfield grass for a 1-0 Rochester lead.

In the second, the Red Wings tacked on another fortuitous run to make it a 2-0 game. Erick Mejia walked with one out, moving to second on a stolen base. However, a strikeout by Darren Baker had Butto one out away from escaping the second inning without surrendering another run. It wasn’t to be – Jacob Young chopped a groundball to shortstop that Luisangel Acuńa fielded cleanly but then bounced his throw to first, allowing Mejia to score on the error and boost the Red Wings’ lead up to two runs.

It became a 3-0 lead for Rochester when Yepez slugged a no-doubt home run over the left-field fence leading off the fifth inning. Butto escaped the inning without allowing another run, eventually completing what turned out to be a workmanlike outing. The right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in five innings. What ultimately doomed Butto was his lack of command. He walked four batters and threw 44 balls amidst the 84 total pitches he threw in the outing.

Rochester’s final three runs on the afternoon came in the top of the seventh when Jack Dunn launched a solo home run and in the top of the ninth when Erick Mejia had an RBI via a sacrifice fly followed by a James Wood bases-loaded walk to plate another run. Dunn and Wood have both had impressive starts to the series. Dunn, a former Northwestern Wildcat, has reached base four times and scored twice. Wood, widely considered one of the top prospects in all of minor league baseball, has reached base six times combined on Friday and Saturday, including a double for his first Triple-A hit on Friday followed by two singles and three walks in Saturday’s game.

From there, the story became the pitching staff for the Red Wings, who shut down Mets hitters all afternoon long. Thaddeus Ward started the game strong with four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out six. Ward spent the entire 2023 season with the Washington Nationals after being picked in the Rule 5 Draft prior to last season from the Boston Red Sox organization.

After Ward’s strong start, the Red Wings bullpen finished the job the rest of the way. Relievers Spenser Watkings, Joe La Sorsa, Amos Willingham, and Rico Garcia combined to toss the final five innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Watkins was particularly impressive in his two innings of work that immediately followed Ward’s four-inning start. The right-handed reliever Watkins tossed two perfect innings, striking out four Mets batters in the process.

The lone runs for the Syracuse Mets were provided on this day by familiar faces to the Salt City. Vientos homered leading off the bottom of the seventh, an opposite-field blast that banged off the right-field foul pole for a solo shot. The Floridian finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a walk, a home run, and two runs scored. Vientos has spent parts of the past four seasons now with the Syracuse Mets.

In the bottom of the ninth, trailing 6-1, the Mets got one final run back when Vientos doubled leading off the inning and scored on a two-out single from Yolmer Sánchez. Sánchez, a former Gold Glove winner in 2019 with the Chicago White Sox, finished the 2022 season with the Syracuse Mets.

Syracuse wraps up its season-opening series against Rochester on Easter Sunday afternoon. The third game in the three-game series is set for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander Mike Vasil is scheduled to start for the Mets, opposed by right-hander Jackson Rutledge for the Red Wings.