New York Mets Minor League Report: Syracuse Wins Again In Miraculous Push For Playoffs

After Friday’s results, Syracuse is very much alive for an out-of-nowhere International League second-half championship.

The Mets pulled to a half-game behind co-leaders Indianapolis and Rochester with two games left in the regular season, part of a five-team battle for the flag. They dispatched visiting Lehigh Valley 6-2 while Rochester was getting drilled 7-1 at Buffalo and Indianapolis was losing 8-7 in 10 innings at Gwinnett after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning.

Here’s how the clubs stand entering play Saturday:

And while smart people will say that there’s no such thing as momentum in baseball, this Mets team is rolling. They have won the first four games of this week’s series and are 27-12 since the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline. The club was 15-18, 8 1/2 games back and 15th in the league standings through Aug. 2.

The Mets got another shot of energy this week with the promotion of infielder Jefferson Rojas. The 21-year-old homered in each of his first three games and then contributed with his legs on Friday. He manufactured an insurance run in the eighth as he reached on an infield error, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher, and scored on a double by MJ Melendez.

Rojas became a more important player this weekend after New York recalled Ronny Mauricio on Friday to replace the injured Jared Young on the active roster.

Syracuse could be percentage points ahead of Rochester before it takes the field Saturday (6:35 p.m. ET). The Red Wings will play the Bisons at 1:05 p.m. ET. Indianapolis will take on Gwinnett at 6:05 p.m. It’s a rare day of scoreboard-watching in the IL.

A correction/clarification on tiebreakers is needed after Friday’s article: According to Minor League Baseball, the first tiebreaker remains head-to-head, and that applies in a two- or three-way tie, but the second tiebreaker is winning percentage over the last 20 games. If the clubs are tied after that, then the game threshold will increase by one (to 21, 22 and so on) until the tie is broken. Syracuse can’t be finish in a tie right now because it has played one fewer game than the clubs ahead of it.

Bruján Homers, Syracuse Breaks Through In The Sixth

Vidal Bruján is also having a big week. He’s 6-for-15 (.400) with a homer and eight RBIs in four games. He knocked in two big runs Friday.

He hit a solo homer in the fifth to put Syracuse on top 2-1, and then an RBI groundout in the sixth to cap a three-run outburst that stretched the margin to 5-1. He also scored the Mets’ first run, scampering home on a Jose Ramos single in the fourth.

The Mets took advantage of wildness by the Lehigh Valley bullpen to break the game open. A walk to Ramos, a single by Hayden Senger and walk to Zack Short loaded the bases with none out for D’Andre Smith. He came through with a two-run single to give the Mets a 4-1 cushion. Rojas popped out but MJ Melendez walked. Brujan followed with his run-scoring roller.

Justin Hagenman was solid in his second consecutive four-inning start. He allowed a run on two hits, walked none and struck out two. Ben Simon followed with two hitless innings to earn the win. Kevin Herget allowed a solo homer in the seventh, but Saul Garcia worked a hitless eighth and Chayce McDermott got the final three outs, though not in a save situation.

Syracuse Batting

Syracuse Pitching

New York Mets Transactions

• New York Mets placed 1B Jared Young on the 7-day injured list. Concussion.
• New York Mets recalled SS Ronny Mauricio from Syracuse Mets.

Top-20 Prospect Performance

1. Jonah Tong: MLB
2. Jack Wenninger: DNP
3. Elian Pena: DNP
4. Mitch Voit: DNP
5. Ryan Clifford: DNP
6. Nick Morabito: MLB
7. Jonathan Santucci: DNP
8. Carson Wiggins: DNP
9. Jacob Reimer: DNP
10. Aiden Robbins: DNP
11. Randy Guzman: DNP
12. Wandy Asigen: DNP
13. Chris Suero: DNP
14. Jefferson Rojas: 1-for-5, K
15. Will Watson: DNP
16. Shane Sdao: DNP
17. Eli Serrano III: DNP
18. Antonio Jimenez: DNP
19. Emilien Pitre: DNP
20. Dylan Ross: DNP

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