Noah Syndergaard was on the bump Friday night against the Tacoma Rainiers, making the fifth Triple-A start in his young career. After a relatively disappointing effort last time out where he only lasted four innings, Syndergaard did a bit better going five frames this time. Thor threw a season high 96-pitches (58 strikes) over the five innings, giving up three runs on six hits, walking two while striking out a season high six batters.
The Las Vegas 51′s headed into Friday night’s game against the Rainiers in first place by 4.5 games. Winners of four straight, the 51′s were looking to take the second game of the series against Tacoma. Syndergaard would do his job in the first inning setting down the Rainiers in order with two punchouts.
The 51′s would start the scoring thanks to an RBI single by Andrew Brown who was making his second start for Las Vegas. They would add a second run in the inning by way of the hottest hitter in the organization Allan Dykstra, who stroked his 10th double of the season driving in Brown to give the 51′s a 2-0 lead. Las Vegas would add a third run in the second inning.
Just when it seemed like Syndergaard was settled in for what started out as one of his better outings this season, Thor struggled a bit in the third inning before things started to go downhill a bit quicker in the fourth. Jesus Montero led off with a solo home run, but then Leury Bonilla would tie the game for Tacoma with a two-out RBI double. However Thor would finish on a high note and leave the game after the top half of the fifth with a chance for his third win of the season.
Syndergaard continues making strides and taking steps in the right direction with his continued progress. If the strikeouts continue to rise (as they are) and the walks continue to drop (which they did from the previous start), we’ll certainly see this exciting prospect come later this season or the start of next year depending on how the front office sees fit. Either way he should become an integral part of the Mets rotation when the Mets break camp next Spring.
