The Syracuse Mets bounced back with an 11-6 victory over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. The six-game series is now even at a game apiece.
Syracuse jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Mark Vientos opened the scoring with an RBI single to center field. Travis Blankenhorn followed that with a run-scoring single to left field to make it 2-0. Two batters later, Jose Colina brought home the third run of the inning with a groundout to third base.
Jacksonville responded in the top of the second. Charles Leblanc put the Jumbo Shrimp on the board with a two-run home run over the left-field wall. One batter later, Ryan Lavarnway smacked a solo shot over the left-field wall to tie the game, 3-3. However, it did not take long for the Mets to jump back in front as they plated four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-3 lead. Vientos crushed a three-run home run over the wall in left-center and Blankenhorn followed that with a solo homer.
In the top of the third, Willians Astudillo launched one over the left-field wall to cut Syracuse’s lead to 7-4.
The Jumbo Shrimp made it a one-run game in the top of the fifth as JJ Bleday drilled a two-run shot over the wall in right-center. In the bottom of the inning, the Mets got a run back as Khalil Lee belted one over the left-field wall.
Lee smashed his second home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth to make it 9-6. Later in the frame, Nick Plummer grounded one through the middle for a run-scoring single. Then, Johneswhy Fargas scored on a wild pitch to cap off the scoring.
Six of the nine batters in the Mets’ starting lineup recorded multi-hit games.
Tim Addleman started on the bump for Syracuse and allowed four runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings. Joe Zanghi surrendered two runs in relief. Eric Orzer, Yoan López, and Bryce Montes de Oca had scoreless outings.
The two teams will continue the week-long series on Thursday night. Right-hander Jacob deGrom is slated to start for the Mets on a Major League rehab assignment. The first pitch is set 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].