Syracuse sweeps doubleheader from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, wins first six-game series

Ryan Clifford turned a split-day into a statement afternoon. Syracuse blasted Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 9-4 and 7-4 on Saturday at NBT Bank Stadium, and the real story was not just the sweep. It was the volume of damage: Clifford homered twice across the doubleheader, Ronny Mauricio kept piling on, and Syracuse finally looked like a lineup that can break a series open instead of simply hang around in it.

Game 1 got ugly fast. Clifford launched a three-run homer in the first inning, and even after the RailRiders trimmed the lead to 3-2, Syracuse answered with the kind of avalanche that changes a doubleheader. Mauricio homered in the third, Vidal Bruján followed with a two-run shot, and Onix Vega added another two-run blast in the same inning, turning a narrow lead into an 8-2 cushion and ending the suspense before the middle innings could settle in. Jackson Cluff later scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-4, while Carl Edwards Jr. picked up his first win in a Mets uniform with 5.0 innings of work. He allowed three hits, three runs and three walks, and struck out two. Not dominant, but enough to let the offense do the heavy lifting.

The nightcap carried the same message. Clifford started it again with a solo homer, then later added an RBI double to keep pressure on Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Mauricio stayed in the middle of everything, scoring and driving in runs as Syracuse kept stretching the gap. The RailRiders did land punches of their own, with Spencer Jones, Paul DeJong and Payton Henry all going deep, but they never got close enough to flip the script. Mauricio delivered a two-run double, Bruján added a sacrifice fly, and Syracuse pushed the game out of reach in a 7-4 win.

Bryce Conley set the tone by working perfect baseball through three innings in Game 2, and Brandon Waddell finished the final three frames to earn the win. That mattered because the sweep was not just a pair of wins, it was Syracuse’s first six-game series win of the season. At 11-9, the Mets left the weekend in better shape in the International League North race and, more importantly, with a lineup that suddenly looks louder than the standings suggest. Clifford, Mauricio, Bruján and Vega did not just win a doubleheader; they forced the conversation about whether these bats are ready to push their way into the Mets’ depth picture.