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| Tomás Nido had four hits for Syracuse on Sunday afternoon, including a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning (Rick Nelson). |
Nick Meyer 9th-Inning, Game-Tying Home Run
Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets and Worcester Red Sox wrapped up an entertaining week of baseball with yet another wild game. Down to their last out in the bottom of the ninth, the Mets tied the game in the ninth and later won it in the tenth by a 9-8 final on a sunny Sunday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. The game featured 17 runs and 24 hits in the extra-inning contest. It was the third game of the week decided by just one run.
Syracuse (44-62, 11-21) trailed, 8-5, going to the bottom of the ninth inning. Tomás Nido led off with a single, and Brandon McIlwain also singled, placing runners on first and second base with no outs. After back-to-back outs, the Mets were down to their final out as Nick Meyer came to the plate. Meyer proceeded to hammer the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall for a three-run home run that knotted the game up, 8-8, and sending it into extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Worcester (58-49, 19-13) had Ronaldo Hernandez at second base as the free runner that team's get in extras. Mets reliever Dennis Santana kept Hernandez on the bases without scoring as Santana retired all three batters he faced in the tenth to keep the game tied.
After the Red Sox did not score in the top half of the tenth, the Mets were on the doorstep of winning the game in the bottom of the tenth. Abraham Almonte was Syracuse's free runner at second base, and Luke Ritter was intentionally walked to start the frame. Branden Fryman followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved Almonte to third and Ritter to second. Nido then came to the plate and ended the game, smacking a walk-off single into right field to plate Almonte and hand the Mets a 9-8, walk-off win over the Red Sox. This is the seventh walk-off win for Syracuse, and seven different players have been at the plate for the walk-off moments.
The game started with Justin Jarvis making his Mets organizational debut for Syracuse on Sunday afternoon, but Jarvis was rudely greeted by hot early hitting from Worcester batters. Two batters into the ballgame, the WooSox had a 2-0 lead. David Hamilton singled on the second pitch of the game, and then Trevor Story hit a two-run homer on the fourth pitch of the game to make it a 2-0 advantage for the Red Sox just like that. Story played five games in Syracuse this week as part of an MLB rehab assignment. Story went 7-for-19 this week with a walk, a stolen base, two doubles, a home run, two runs scored, and three runs driven in.
In the second, the WooSox added to the lead via a bevy of mistakes from the Mets. First, the inning began when Ryan Fitzgerald made second base on a fielding error from Syracuse right fielder Joe Suozzi. Fitzgerald lofted a fly ball to the right-center field warning track that Suozzi did not catch on the run, putting a WooSox baserunner immediately in scoring position with nobody out. That was followed by a soft single into shallow center field by Ronaldo Hernández that put runners on first and third, and things would only get stranger from there. The next batter, Niko Kavadas, chopped a ground ball to first base that looked destined to be a double play. However, the Mets first baseman, Nick Meyer, threw the ball away into left field. That allowed Fitzgerald and Hernández to score for a 4-0 Red Sox advantage. Both runs in the top of the second inning were unearned for Jarvis.
In the third, Bobby Dalbec led off the inning with a solo home run, his second of the week to make it a 5-0 game. Jarvis would escape the inning without further trouble and exited the game after that, completing his first start as a member of the Mets organization. The talented 23-year-old right-hander allowed five runs, but only three earned, on five hits in three innings, walking one and striking out three. Jarvis was acquired as part of the Mark Canha trade with Milwaukee less than a week ago. The North Carolina native is now considered one of the better pitching prospects in the New York Mets minor league system.
As the WooSox batters hummed at the plate, their decorated starting pitcher kept the Syracuse lineup completely off balance. Chris Sale starred in his MLB rehab outing, striking out seven batters in four and one-third scoreless frames with no walks and three hits allowed. The seven-time All-Star also made a rehab start on Tuesday night, tossing two scoreless frames in that outing with two walks, three strikeouts and one hit allowed.
After Sale left the game with one out and nobody out base in the top of the five, Brian Van Belle entered the game out of the bullpen for the WooSox. The Mets were incredibly happy to see a new pitcher. The first batter facing Van Belle, Joe Suozzi, smacked a solo homer over the right-field fence to make it a 5-1 game. Suozzi was called up from Double-A Binghamton this week and hit two home runs in his initial outings in Triple-A.
Worcester got a run back and increased the lead back to five runs at 6-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ceddanne Rafaela came back up to the plate with a chance to do more damage. Rafaela did do a little damage, but for a guy who had hit home runs in each of the first five games in this week's series, he did it unconventionally. Rafaela hit a slow dribbler that just stayed fair down the third-base line, allowing a run to score and advance the lead to 6-1.
True to form, the Syracuse Mets would not go down without a fight. The Mets got right back in the game via one big blow in the bottom of the sixth. First, Syracuse loaded up the bases via three different singles from Abraham Almonte, Luke Ritter, and Tomas Nido. Then, Brandon McIlwain launched a no-doubt grand slam over the left-field fence to all of sudden put the Mets down by just a run at 6-5.
However, the good news for the Mets abruptly stopped right there. The WooSox appeared to salt the game away with single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to make it an 8-5 game. In the top of the seventh, a solo home run from Hernández increased the lead up to 7-5. It was the second home run of the week for Hernández and the 18th overall for the WooSox. Worcester hit at least three homers in each game of this week's series.
In the eighth, Rafaela terrorized the Mets one more time. After a two-out double from Trevor Story kept the inning alive, the 22-year-old lined an RBI double off the top of the right-field wall to plate Story and cap off his remarkable week of production at the plate. Rafaela went 9-for-24 at the plate with five home runs, six extra-base hits, four walks, six runs scored, and nine runs driven in. Rafaela's double made it an 8-5 ballgame, setting things up for Syracuse's comeback and walk-off win.
Syracuse now hits the road for six games at the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The first game of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start time on Tuesday. Right-hander Mike Vasil is expected to start on the mound for Syracuse in the series opener.
Making his @Mets org debut today: Justin Jarvis! #LGM pic.twitter.com/SX2p9UgEQt
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 6, 2023
Chris Sale vs. Ronny Mauricio with two strikes
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 6, 2023
Who ya got? pic.twitter.com/jrrWsDbdmu
Brandon McIlwain: grand
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 6, 2023
This one just got close 💪 pic.twitter.com/8ACIixPbmS
Nick Meyer is a gamer, day in, day out
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 6, 2023
Down to our last out in the bottom of the ninth, he delivers 💣 pic.twitter.com/VMfHuj8ozp
It's a walk-off victory as Tomas Nido singles in the winning run in the 10th! We come all the way back to take this one 9-8 over the @WooSox 🙌 pic.twitter.com/5IVDbh4QHC
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 6, 2023
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