Syracuse blanks Worcester 3-0 behind two-hitter, third-inning burst

Syracuse won the kind of game that can settle a road trip in a hurry: one decisive inning, then eight frames of strike-throwing and empty at-bats. The Mets blanked Worcester 3-0 on Friday night at Polar Park, held a no-hitter into the eighth inning and finished with a combined two-hitter for their first shutout of the 2026 season.

The entire offensive margin came in the top of the third, when Syracuse finally broke through and never let the game drift back. Yonny Hernández was part of the rally that opened the door, Nick Morabito added a double, Jihwan Bae drove in a run with a single, Ryan Clifford followed with a sacrifice fly and Christian Arroyo chipped in an RBI infield single. Mickey Gasper also delivered a groundout that brought home one of the runs, and the Mets emerged with a 3-0 lead that proved more than enough.

From there, the story became the pitching staff. Daniel Duarte started the night and worked 2.1 innings, allowing one walk while striking out three. Austin Warren handled 0.2 innings, A.J. Minter covered one inning and Dakota Hawkins was especially sharp, striking out four over two scoreless innings. Dan Hammer added 0.2 innings and Anderson Severino finished it off by inducing a double play. Syracuse never had to scramble once it grabbed the lead.

Worcester did not record its first hit until the bottom of the eighth, when Anthony Seigler broke up the no-hit bid with a single to center. Mikey Romero added the WooSox’ only other hit in the ninth. Michael Sansone, making his Polar Park debut and his second start for Worcester, was on the other side as the WooSox were shut down in front of a sellout crowd of 7,836.

The result evened the six-game series at 2-2 and pushed both clubs to 13-11. It also gave Syracuse a clean answer to a 10-4 loss the day before, showing a different route to winning than the power display that had fueled earlier success. For a Triple-A club trying to survive the grind of a road series, this was the blueprint: pound the strike zone, protect the game with the bullpen and cash in when the third inning opens. The teams were scheduled to meet again Saturday at 4:05 p.m. at Polar Park.