A.J. Ewing caps Syracuse comeback with walk-off win over Rochester

A.J. Ewing sent Syracuse home with a first career Triple-A walk-off hit, lining a single to right in the ninth to cap a 3-2 comeback over Rochester and give the Salt Potatoes a winning start to the Duel of the Dishes.

The game, played Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium, opened the 2026 series built around one of Minor League Baseball’s most playful rivalries. Syracuse wore the Salt Potatoes identity, Rochester came in as the Plates, and the winner moved one step closer to the Golden Fork in a matchup the team’s promotions page billed as “the greatest rivalry in the history of sports.” Syracuse entered at 20-15, Rochester at 17-19, and the first game of the set delivered the kind of late swing that makes a branded night stick.

Rochester struck first on Christian Franklin’s solo homer in the third, but Syracuse answered in the fourth when Jihwan Bae doubled home a run to tie it. The Red Wings went back ahead 2-1 in the sixth on Andrew Pinckney’s sacrifice fly, only for Christian Arroyo to respond with an RBI single in the bottom half and knot the score at 2-2. From there, the game tightened into a bullpen test, with Bryce Conley allowing just one run over four innings before Mike Baumann bridged the middle innings and Ryan Lambert, Jonathan Pintaro and Dylan Ross kept Rochester quiet late.

The ninth finally cracked open for Syracuse. Ben Rortvedt was hit by a pitch, Jackson Cluff drew a walk, and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. That set up Ewing, who drove the decisive ball to right and scored pinch-runner Kevin Villavicencio with the winning run. It was the sort of finish that fits this series, one that has turned Salt Potatoes and Plates uniforms into a local shorthand for a rivalry that now carries real stakes, not just a theme night gimmick.

Ewing’s timing made the moment even more notable. The 21-year-old, born in Kettering, Ohio, and a 2023 fourth-round pick by the New York Mets out of Springboro High School, had been assigned to Syracuse from Double-A Binghamton on April 27. He had already flashed in his Triple-A debut the next night, nearly hitting for the cycle in a 10-4 win over Lehigh Valley, and this swing gave him a memory that travels fast in Triple-A. Syracuse also won two of three against Rochester in 2024 to claim the Golden Fork, and the Red Wings arrived with the backdrop of their 100th Knot Hole Kids Club season, adding another layer of history to a series that still finds ways to feel fresh.