Vientos homers, but Mets fall to Red Wings, 7-2

Syracuse, NY – Mark Vientos hit a two-run home run for Syracuse, but the Mets fell to the Rochester Red Wings, 7-2, on Friday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Rochester scored the game’s last five runs, all from the sixth inning onward.

Rochester (29-17) struck first in the top of the second inning and did so with two outs. Former Syracuse Chief Adrian Sanchez struck a two-out double. Matt Lipka followed with a single that scored Sanchez for a 1-0 Red Wings edge. Andrew Stevenson then doubled, scoring Sanchez to give Rochester a 2-0 lead.

Syracuse (16-28) leaped back with one powerful swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth. After Daniel Palka led off the frame with a walk, Vientos launched a two-run, opposite-field home run over the wall in right-center field to tie the game up, 2-2. Vientos is hitting .328 since May 2nd with six home runs, three doubles, and 12 RBIs.

The Red Wings regained the lead in the sixth. With one out, Jake Noll singled, advanced to second on an Andrew Young groundout, and Noll scored on a Tres Barrera single, giving the Wings a 3-2 advantage.

Rochester added a pair of runs in the seventh. Lipka walked and then stole second base. After Stevenson popped out, Lipka stole third. Cole Freeman then walked to put runners on first and third base with one out. Luis Garcia followed with a two-run double to left-center field, scoring both Lipka and Freeman to push the Rochester lead to three, 5-2.

The Red Wings added another insurance run in the eighth. Barrera singled and Sanchez doubled, placing runners at second and third with no outs. Lipka followed with a groundout to shortstop that allowed Barrera to come home to make it a 6-2 ballgame in favor of the Red Wings.

Rochester put the exclamation point on the night in the top of the ninth thanks to a Joey Meneses solo homer to begin the inning, giving the Red Wings a 7-2 advantage. Meneses has three home runs in the last two games and has hit six homers in nine games against the Mets this season.

Syracuse and Rochester meet for the penultimate game of their six-game series on Saturday night. Left-hander Mike Montgomery is scheduled to throw for the Mets opposite Red Wings right-hander Cade Cavalli. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.