Red Wings edge Mets 3-2 in rain-shortened series opener

Rain turned the first game of the season between the Syracuse Mets and Rochester Red Wings into a six-inning sprint, and the early margin held up in a 3-2 Rochester win Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. After a 31-minute delay, the game was called official at the end of the sixth, leaving Syracuse without enough innings to erase the Red Wings’ fourth-inning push.

That shortened finish gave every mistake extra weight. Syracuse struck first when Nick Morabito singled and stole second before Ryan Clifford drove him in with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. But Rochester answered in the fourth, when Andrés Chaparro tied the game with an RBI single and Robert Hassell III followed with the go-ahead hit, another RBI single that flipped the score to 2-1. In a nine-inning game, that rally might have been just another turn in the lineup. In a rain-shortened opener, it became the difference.

Syracuse had one last chance to change the tone in the sixth. Clifford doubled and Cristian Pache brought him home with an RBI single to trim the deficit to 3-2, but Ben Rortvedt flied out with two runners on base, leaving the tying run stranded before the weather finished the rest. The Mets never got another chance to cash in on the threat.

Jack Weisenburger made his organizational debut for Syracuse and allowed three runs across four innings, striking out four. Riley Cornelio steadied Rochester by limiting the Mets to one earned run over 4.2 innings, and Zach Penrod handled the final out for his first save. The Red Wings’ third straight win was their season-high streak and pushed them to 17-17, while Syracuse dropped to 18-15.

The box score fit the night: 63-degree cloudy weather, a 9 mph wind moving right to left, 1,893 fans, and a total time of 2 hours and 25 minutes including the delay. Syracuse and Rochester were set to keep the six-game series going Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m., with Jack Wenninger scheduled for the Mets and Luis Perales lined up for the Red Wings, all part of the 2026 Duel of the Dishes battle for the Golden Fork.