Alvarez shines in Syracuse debut, RailRiders edge Mets 6-5
Alvarez went 2-for-3 with two RBI doubles and a caught-stealing throwout in Syracuse, but the Mets still fell 6-5 after Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s late push.
Francisco Alvarez made his Syracuse debut count immediately, and Jorge Polanco’s first game on assignment added another layer to a Triple-A night that ended with the Mets one swing short. The Syracuse Mets fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 6-5, on Tuesday at NBT Bank Stadium, but the box score carried the kind of big-league meaning that makes June games in Triple-A so revealing.
Alvarez, sent to Syracuse on a rehab assignment June 1, went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI doubles and also threw out a runner trying to steal. Polanco, who joined Syracuse on June 2, reached base with a walk in four plate appearances in his first game of the assignment. For a club balancing wins with major-league readiness, the night offered both a glimpse of immediate impact and a reminder of how quickly rehab work can change the tone of a lineup.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre struck first when George Lombard Jr. walked and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Oswaldo Cabrera. Syracuse answered in the third on Alvarez’s RBI double, then tied it again in the fourth when Andy Ibáñez launched a solo home run. Those swings kept the game even early, but the RailRiders began to control the middle innings and never stopped forcing Syracuse to chase.
Ernesto Martinez Jr. delivered the turning point in the sixth with his 10th home run of the season, putting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ahead for good. Seth Brown followed with an RBI double in the seventh, and the RailRiders added two more runs in the eighth to build a 6-2 lead. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre finished with an 11-5 edge in hits, and its pitchers struck out 11 in a win that also went to Dom Hamel, with Rafael Montero collecting the save.
Syracuse still had one more push. Jihwan Bae walked and stole second, Jackson Cluff singled him home, and catcher’s interference loaded the bases. Yonny Hernández then drilled a two-run pinch-hit single to center, trimming the margin to one and turning the finale into a nervous finish. Kevin Parada’s flyout ended the rally, leaving the Mets to absorb a loss that still carried value beyond the scoreboard.
Zach Thornton gave Syracuse a chance by allowing two runs over four innings, but Ben Simon gave up the go-ahead homer and the bullpen could not fully stop the bleeding after that. Christian Arroyo’s roster movement added to the churn around the club, underscoring how fluid Syracuse can be when rehab assignments and organizational adjustments overlap. The series moved on to a Wednesday doubleheader, with Game 1 scheduled for 4:05 p.m., but the opening game already delivered the night’s clearest message: Alvarez looked ready, Polanco was in motion, and the RailRiders still found the late swing that decided it.
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