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Star-Studded Tuesday Ends with Syracuse 5-4 Walk-off Win Over Worcester in Ten Innings

August 1, 2023 - International League (IL)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Syracuse Mets' Luke Ritter at bat
Syracuse Mets' Luke Ritter at bat
(Syracuse Mets, Credit: Rick Nelson)

Syracuse, NY - On a night filled with rehabbing Boston Red Sox players appearing for the Worcester Red Sox, it was the Syracuse Mets who stole the show at NBT Bank Stadium. Luke Ritter smacked a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth to cap off a comeback, 5-4 win for the Mets over the WooSox on a sunny and pleasant evening in the Salt City. It was the sixth walk-off win for the Mets this season.

After Worcester (54-48, 15-12), scored a run in the top of the first inning, Chris Sale made a rehab start for Worcester and the seven-time MLB All-Star looked sharp for much of his short outing. The lanky left-hander did not allow a run in his two innings of work, allowing just one hit (a double to Ronny Mauricio) and two walks with three strikeouts tossed in the mix. It was the first rehab start for Sale this season, who made 11 starts with Boston to start the campaign before being placed on the Injured List in early June. The 34-year-old is also expected to make another rehab start with Worcester in Syracuse on Sunday afternoon.

After Sale left the game, Rio Gomez entered the game and was mostly unhittable in his three innings of work. The 28-year-old left-hander struck out eight batters in his scintillating outing, but unfortunately for Gomez it unraveled on him late in the outing. Jonathan Araúz doubled with one out in the fifth to put a runner in scoring position, but he was still stuck at second base with two outs as Luke Voit came to the plate. The hulking slugger then took a pitch on the outer half of the plate and smacked a go-ahead, two-out, two-run homer to surge Syracuse (43-58, 10-17) to a 2-1 lead. Voit now has 15 home runs in 37 games in Triple-A with Syracuse this season.

For much of the night, the pitching staff for the Mets kept the hitters for the WooSox off balance. Eric Orze made a spot start and was solid in three innings, allowing just two hits and one run (a solo home run hit by Ceddanne Rafaela) with two walks and three strikeouts. From there, Jimmy Yacabonis tossed two scoreless innings on just two hits with no walks and a strikeout, Dedniel Núñez worked a scoreless inning with one walk and one strikeout, followed by another solid outing from Nate Lavender. The lefty struck out two batters and allowed just one hit in one and two-thirds innings of work. Lavender has a 3.08 ERA in 20 appearances with Syracuse, striking out 40 batters in just more than 26 innings of work.

However, Lavender walked Nick Sogard in the eighth inning, and that would prove to come back and bite the Mets in the backside. Sogard was still on base with two outs in the eighth as Lavender was lifted for Sean Reid-Foley out of the bullpen. Reid-Foley then faced Trevor Story and allowed a go-ahead, two-out, two-run homer to lift the WooSox to a 3-2 advantage. Story, a two-time MLB All-Star, has yet to play for Boston this season after suffering a preseason injury. Story has now hit two home runs in six rehab games played in Triple-A.

Syracuse was down to its final out in the bottom of the ninth, but true to form this season, the Mets had a little magic left up their sleeve. With nobody on base and two strikes on him, Araúz laced a double down the right-field line to extend the game. That brought Mauricio back up to the plate and he sprinkled pixie dust on the bottom of the night. The 22-year-old grounded a single into right field to score Araúz, knot the game up at three and send the ballgame into extra innings.

In the top of the tenth, Worcester immediately scored when Niko Kavadas doubled home the free runner (Ronaldo Hernández) to make it a 4-3 game. The WooSox wouldn't score again in the tenth, however, setting the stage for Syracuse to come back once again and finally win the game in the bottom of the tenth.

The pinch-running Joe Suozzi started the tenth inning as the free runner on second base with nobody out, and he watched Abraham Almonte walk to put runners on first and second base with still nobody out. Then, things got a little strange. Carlos Cortes hit a groundball to first base that looked destined to be a double play. However, Kavadas threw the ball away into right field, allowing Suozzi to score the tying run and move Almonte to third. The next batter, Luke Ritter, ended the game with a sharp single into left field that plated Almonte and gave the Mets a 5-4 win to kick off the week against the Worcester Red Sox.

Syracuse is home all this week for six games against the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the Worcester Red Sox. The second game of the series is slated for a 12:05 p.m. start time on Wednesday. Right-hander Mike Vasil is scheduled to start for the Mets against right-hander Dinelson Lamet for the WooSox.

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Syracuse Mets' Luke Ritter at bat
Syracuse Mets' Luke Ritter at bat
(Rick Nelson)		   



International League Stories from August 1, 2023


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