Syracuse blows 3-0 lead, Rochester rallies for 7-5 win

Jonah Tong gave Syracuse exactly the kind of outing that should have held up. He struck out eight, kept Rochester off balance for five innings, and left the Mets with a 3-0 lead that looked sturdy until the sixth inning blew the game open.

The Red Wings erased that cushion with one ugly frame and never let Syracuse recover. Christian Franklin launched a two-run homer and Trey Lipscomb followed with another two-run shot in Rochester’s five-run sixth, turning a quiet game into a 5-3 Red Wings lead in a hurry. Tres Barrera added the final punch with a two-run single in the eighth, and Erik Tolman finished the job for his first career Triple-A save as Rochester walked away with a 7-5 win at NBT Bank Stadium.

The loss stung because Syracuse had built its advantage with some smart, small-ball execution and a strong night from one of its top arms. Nick Morabito started the first inning by drawing a walk, extending his on-base streak to 20 games. He moved up on a passed ball and then scored on a double steal with Ryan Clifford for a 1-0 lead in unusual fashion. Syracuse pushed again in the fifth when Yonny Hernández walked, Hayden Senger singled, and Morabito lined a two-run single that made it 3-0. At that point, Tong had done enough to put the Mets in position to win.

That is what makes Triple-A so unforgiving. One good start rarely guarantees anything if the staff behind it cannot finish the night. Tong entered the game as Syracuse’s No. 2 prospect with a 4.46 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 36.1 innings, and he looked every bit the swing-and-miss weapon that profile suggests. But once Rochester broke through, the Mets had no answer. The sixth inning changed everything, and the final three innings only widened the gap.

Ryan Clifford was one of the few steady bats for Syracuse, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. But the Mets could not match Rochester’s late power or recover from the momentum shift. After taking two of the first four games in the homestand and then winning again in comeback fashion on May 7, Syracuse watched this one slip the other way, a reminder that in Triple-A, a three-run lead and eight strikeouts can still vanish fast.