WooSox Tie Game in Ninth, Fall 4-3 to Mets

SYRACUSE N.Y. — A Mark Payton walkoff single helped the Syracuse Mets (45-68) hold off a late Worcester Red Sox (65-50) comeback, a 4-3 win for the home team at NBT Bank Stadium on Thursday night.

After a two-run top of the ninth, the game was tied 3-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning. WooSox reliever Durbin Feltman struck out the leadoff batter before Syracuse’s Drew Jackson cracked a single to center. Jackson stole second on the first pitch of the next at-bat, putting the game-winning run in scoring position. Payton was next—he worked 1-2 count, then laced a single up the middle to score Jackson, giving the Mets a 4-3 walkoff win over Worcester.

Syracuse began the bottom of the first inning with three straight hits against WooSox starter Kutter Crawford. Payton doubled, Mark Vientos singled and Khalil Lee brought Payton home with an RBI single to left. After a strikeout, Travis Blankenhorn hit a deep single, scoring Vientos, to put the home team up 2-0.

That was the only run allowed by Crawford, who went 5.1 innings and struck out seven.

Worcester put a runner in scoring position in each of its first two innings, but Mets starter Jordan Yamamoto worked out of a jam in both frames. Finally, in the third, the WooSox broke through, a frame that began with a one out walk from Chad De La Guerra. After a popout, a Franchy Cordero single put runners on the corners—in the next at-bat, Cordero stole second and De La Guerra scored on an error on the throw to second.

Neither team managed a run over the next three innings, before Syracuse extended its lead in the bottom of the seventh on a sharp single to left from Vientos. The swing brought home Drew Jackson, marking Vientos’ first Triple-A RBI in his first game with the Mets. Zack Kelly allowed the run, the only hit he gave up over 1.2 innings of relief work.

But as it did on Tuesday night, Worcester came through with a late comeback. In the top of the ninth inning, the WooSox put runners on first and third with one out. After a wild pitch put De La Guerra on second, Josh Ockimey delivered a sac-fly to make it 3-2. The fly ball also moved De La Guerra to third, putting the tying run 90 feet away with two outs. Reliever Zack Godley threw another wild pitch, allowing De La Guerra to scamper home and even the game at three.

The Mets walked it off half an inning later, dropping Worcester’s record in one-run games to 15-8.

The WooSox continue the series Friday at 6:35 p.m. against the Syracuse Mets at NBT Bank Stadium. Radio coverage starts live at 6:15 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network. Worcester’s Kyle Hart (6-8, 4.45) is scheduled to face Josh Walker (0-3, 5.56).