The Syracuse Mets suffered a tough loss as they blew a late three-run lead and fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 5-3, on Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium.
Mets left-hander Mike Montgomery tossed four scoreless and hitless innings, allowing just two runners to reach base. Right-hander Hayden Wesneski was even better for the RailRiders as he fired five shutout innings, while striking out four and surrendering just two hits.
Syracuse broke the scoreless tie in the sixth after Mark Vientos grounded one through the left side for a two-out RBI single.
Nick Meyers extended Syracuse’s lead in the seventh with a two-run home run over the left-field wall to make it 3-0.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored a pair of runs in the eighth to cut the lead to just one. Rob Brantly put the RailRiders on the board with a solo home run to right. Later in the inning, Estevan Florial crushed a solo shot to left-center field to make it a one-run game.
The RailRiders scored three runs in the ninth to take a 5-3 lead. Brantly lifted a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game at three. Ryan LaMarre followed that with a two-run double to center to cap off the inning.
The Mets bullpen really struggled as Anthony Vizcaya, Yoan López and R.J. Alvarez combined to allow all five runs. Andrew Mitchell threw two scoreless innings and was the only Syracuse reliever to not allow a run.
The two teams will continue their six-game series on Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].