Worcester eclipses Syracuse, 9-0, in series opener on Monday night

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets were blocked by stellar offense and pitching from the Worcester Red Sox on Monday, falling by a 9-0 final at NBT Bank Stadium. The WooSox grabbed the first game of the six-game series, the initial game out of 24 scheduled between the two teams this season.

Worcester (4-5) got right to it, scoring a run on a solo home run in the top of the first from Nathan Hickey. Hickey is considered one of the best power-hitting prospects the Boston Red Sox have – he hit 15 home runs with their Double-A affiliate in Portland, Maine last season. The WooSox plated another run in the top of the second when Tyler Heineman was hit by a pitch with one out, Niko Kavadas doubled him to third and then Heineman scored on an RBI groundout from Dalton Guthrie.

The WooSox biggest flurry of runs came in the fourth via a three-run punch, yet they did in a bit of suspicious fashion. Worcester scored the three runs on just two hits with three walks, a hit batter, an RBI fielder’s choice, and a sacrifice fly tossed in the mix. Nine Worcester batters came to the plate in the fourth inning that turned a 2-0 game into a 5-0 game.

The WooSox capped off their scoring with another run in the fifth and three final runs in the seventh. While Worcester only had six hits in the game, they put a steady parade of runners on base. Every single member of their starting lineup reached base at least once and seven batters reached base at least twice. Worcester also took advantage of an ongoing issue for the Syracuse pitching staff: too many walks. The Mets issued ten free passes on Monday night after walking 36 batters in the prior four games combined.

While the WooSox hitters kept getting on base, their pitchers kept the Mets hitters off base. Worcester took a combined no-hitter into the eighth inning, holding Syracuse to just one hit and four total baserunners all night long. Jason Alexander was the star of the show for the WooSox. Their starting pitcher was pretty, pretty, good in six scoreless and hitless innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. The only hit of the game for the Mets came when Luke Ritter had a single in the eighth inning, while Mark Vientos reached twice on walks.

After an off day on Tuesday, Syracuse resumes its six-game series against the Worcester Red Sox at NBT Bank Stadium on Wednesday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with right-hander Christian Scott expected to take the mound for the Mets.