Dick Scott, Photo by James Farrance

The Syracuse Mets took on the Rochester Red Wings at NBT Bank Stadium on a dreary and breezy afternoon for their home opener, and they didn’t disappoint. The fans were treated to a stellar pitching performance, great defense, and timely hitting by the Mets as they won 5-0 to kick off the series. Unfortunately, the game’s biggest story was Mets third base prospect Brett Baty leaving in the fourth inning with right thumb soreness. The same thumb he had surgery on last year. Box score

Right-hander Alex Valverde was making his Triple-A debut. The Mets selected him in the minor league Rule 5 draft in December 2021. He was initially on the preliminary roster for the Double-A Rumble Ponies to begin the season but was set to make the spot start due to injuries on the big league club.

  • LF Danny Mendick 2-for-5, 2B, 1 RBI, .753 OPS
  • 1B Mark Vientos 1-for-3, 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1.074 OPS
  • SS Ronny Mauricio 1-for-4 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI, .760 OPS
  • DH Carlos Cortes 2-for-3 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, .955 OPS
  • 3B Brett Baty 1-for-1, BB, SB, 1.338 OPS
  • C Francisco Alvarez 0-for-4, 4 K, .988 OPS

 

In the first inning, the Red Wings appeared to have Valverde in considerable trouble with runners on second and third base. The former Met, Travis Blankenhorn, was at the plate and hit a fly ball to center fielder Lorenzo Cedrola. He made a tremendous heads-up defensive play by throwing out Yadiel Hernandez, who was trying to reach third base. Third baseman Brett Baty applied the tag to get the double play before Chad Pinder crossed home plate.

The Mets struck first against Red Wings starter Paolo Espino in the bottom half of the inning. Baty delivered the first hit of the day for Syracuse and promptly got into scoring position with a stolen base. With two outs, Vientos laced an RBI double (110.8 mph off the bat) to the right-center field wall to drive in Baty for the game’s first run.

Syracuse Mets manager Dick Scott, Photo by James Farrance

Valverde managed to escape from a tough jam in the third inning with the bases loaded, two outs, and slugger Matt Adams coming to the plate. Syracuse’s pitching coach, Kyle Driscoll, came to the mound to settle down Valverde. He immediately induced Adams to ground out to shortstop Mauricio to keep the Red Wings off the board. Valverde allowed two hits with four walks and two strikeouts in three scoreless innings, ending his afternoon.

A pitching duel between the two staffs came down to the battle of the bullpens. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning. The Syracuse bullpen of Rossman, Orze, Hartwig, and Yacabonis help keep the Red Wings bats quiet for the rest of the game. The four would pitch a combined six scoreless innings, with nine strikeouts and two baserunners allowed. After a rough outing on opening day, Orze was outstanding today. He retired all six batters he faced, striking out four on 24 pitches, 17 of which were for strikes. He got six swings and misses on the changeup this afternoon.

In the seventh inning, Jose Peraza executed a terrific defensive play. He ranged to his right and made a sliding backhanded pick. He subsequently completed a strong throw to first baseman Vientos, who stayed on the bag and secured the first out of the inning. Peraza replaced Baty, who had to exit the game in the fourth inning because of an apparent injury to his hand.

Syracuse’s first runner on base since the fourth inning was a one-out opposite-field single by Cortes in the bottom half of the seventh. The following batter Mendick, a Pittsford, NY native, a suburb in Rochester, hit an RBI double to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Syracuse bats would tack on three more runs in the bottom of eight off Jesus Liranzo. After Vientos led off with a walk, the birthday boy, Mauricio, got involved in the party with an RBI triple to make it 3-0. Mauricio scored on a sac fly by Khalil Lee to make it 4-0. Later in the inning, Cedrola walked, stole his second base in the game, and scored the final run on Cortes’s RBI double.

Catcher Francisco Alvarez had a dreadful day at the plate today, taking home the golden sombrero with four strikeouts.

Jimmy Yacabonis entered in the ninth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning to close the game for Syracuse and preserve the three-hit shutout.

The Syracuse Mets continue their six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings on Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. ET.