Jefferson Rojas kept finding ways to move Syracuse forward Wednesday night. He drove a ball into the right-center-field gap, sent another over the wall in left-center and, when the Mets needed one more run, lifted a fly ball deep enough to bring Kevin Parada home.
That final contribution was the quietest of the three, but it decided a loud, unruly game. Rojas drove in three runs as Syracuse erased deficits of 2-0 and 5-3, outlasting the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 9-8, at NBT Bank Stadium.
Rojas finished 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and a hit by pitch. His fifth-inning sacrifice fly supplied the winning run after the teams had combined for 17 through the first five innings.
Parada opened the fifth with a double into right field and advanced to third on D’Andre Smith’s flyout. Rojas followed with a fly ball to center, and Parada scored standing up to give Syracuse its final lead.
Getting there required nearly constant repair work.
Kameron Misner’s two-run homer put Lehigh Valley ahead in the first, but Syracuse answered immediately. Vidal Bruján singled home Smith before Eric Wagaman sliced a ball down the right-field line and into the corner, scoring Rojas and MJ Melendez for a 3-2 lead.
Lehigh Valley struck for three runs against Jack Wenninger in the second. Misner drove in two with a single, and Keaton Anthony followed with another run-scoring hit. Wenninger departed after allowing five earned runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Again, Rojas helped pull Syracuse back. With Parada and Smith aboard in the bottom half, he hammered a fly ball into the right-center-field gap. Parada scored, Smith reached third and the Mets were on their way to a four-run response. A throwing error by shortstop Robert Moore on Ronny Mauricio’s fielder’s choice allowed Smith and Rojas to score, and Bruján’s sacrifice fly brought Mauricio home for a 7-5 lead.
Bruján finished with two RBIs, while Wagaman went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Parada reached three times, going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs.
The cushion did not last. Gabriel Rincones Jr. lined Matt Seelinger’s 1-2 pitch over the wall in right-center for a two-run homer that tied the game in the third.
Rojas answered in the bottom of the inning. His drive carried toward the wall in left-center, glanced off the outfielder’s glove and cleared the fence, restoring Syracuse’s lead at 8-7.
Lehigh Valley tied it for the second time in the fourth when Nick Biddison singled home Anthony. The same play also ended the inning: Melendez’s throw from right field reached Rojas at third in time to retire Carter Kieboom.
After four innings in which neither pitching staff could hold the other side down, Syracuse’s bullpen changed the shape of the night. Brian Metoyer earned the win with two scoreless innings, striking out four and walking one. Dylan Ross, Matt Turner and Zach Franklin carried the shutout work through the final three innings as the Mets protected their one-run edge.
Franklin took over with two outs in the eighth and recorded the final four outs for his seventh save. Lehigh Valley brought the tying run to third in the ninth after a two-out walk and single, but Franklin struck out Rincones to end it.
The final four Syracuse relievers combined for five scoreless innings. Franklin struck out two without allowing a run, and the Mets played errorless defense behind the bullpen.
Syracuse collected 11 hits to Lehigh Valley’s 12. In a game that repeatedly threatened to belong to whichever lineup batted last, Rojas made sure the Mets had the run that lasted.