The Mets fail to gain on SWB as Rochester ties Buffalo for third place.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Rochester Red Wings ended the Syracuse Mets’ 9-game winning streak Saturday night with a 6-2 victory at NBT Bank Stadium. Syracuse remains a game and a half back of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for first place in the International League North division after both teams lost on Saturday.
Rochester (66-65) opened the scoring in the top of the third inning. With one out, Willians Astudillo doubled and scored one out later on a two-out double by Wilin Rosario, making it 1-0 Red Wings. Brandon Barnes followed with a single, scoring Rosario and extending the Rochester advantage to 2-0.
In the fourth, Rochester put together another two-out rally. Ivan De Jesus Jr. singled and scored from first on a double by Ian Miller, making it 3-0. Astudillo kept things going with a single, plating Miller from second and giving Rochester a 4-0 lead.
Rosario led off the fifth inning with a single for Rochester. One out later, Zander Wiel walked, putting runners on first and second base. After a mound visit, Drew Maggi singled to left, scoring Rosario from second to put Rochester up 5-0. Ronald Torreyes followed with a single to plate Wiel and extend the Red Wings lead to 6-0.
Syracuse (68-62) got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Ali Sanchez walked and Braxton Lee singled to put two runners on for Arismendy Alcantara. The Mets third basemen cracked a single, and Sanchez scored from second after an error on right fielder Ramón Flores to trim the Rochester lead to five, 6-1.
The Mets kept things going in the seventh inning. With two outs, Travis Taijeron walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Jason Krizan singled to score Taijeron and cut the deficit to four, 6-2.
*NOTES — The series concludes with a Sunday afternoon matinee, then the Red Wings conclude their final road trip with 4 games in Buffalo starting Monday night…Pawtucket played spoiler against the Bisons Saturday with a 5-2 win over Buffalo as the Red Wings moved into a tie for third, 4 games behind SWB…Zander Wiel leads the International League with 61 extra-base hits this season, the most in the IL since Andy Wilkins collected 69 with Charlotte in 2014. He also leads the league 35 doubles. Wiel is only the second Red Wing since at least 1979 with 60 or more extra-base hits in a season, joining Sherman Obando who had 63 in 1994. Wiel’s 35 doubles are tied for the most in a single season during the Twins era with Luis Rodriguez in 2003. Since 1979, P.J. Forbes has the most doubles in one season by a Wing with 37 in 1998… Rochester set a franchise record for home runs in a season after Zander Wiel hit the team’s 155th homer on Aug. 7 vs. Gwinnett, breaking the previous mark set in 1959. The Wings have hit 62 homers in 41 games since the All-Star Break, second in the IL behind Charlotte and 13th among all minor league teams over that period.