What began as a back-and-forth offensive shootout at CHS Field settled into a bullpen battle Saturday night, and Syracuse had the last word in a 9-7 win over St. Paul.
The Saints were in trouble early with Ryan Gallagher on the mound. The right-hander was charged with seven runs, five earned, on seven hits and two walks in only three innings, though he did rack up five strikeouts before handing things over to Ricky Castro in the fourth.
Castro gave St. Paul a chance to hang around. He quieted the Mets long enough for the Saints to stay right with them, and the home club kept answering at the plate in the opening stretch.
St. Paul put up six runs across the first three innings, then pulled even in the fourth when Kala’i Rosario launched his ninth home run of the season to level the score against Syracuse.
From there, Castro worked through the Mets’ order until the seventh, when MJ Melendez broke the tie with a solo shot to right field. That swing proved to be the difference and tagged Castro with the loss.
The Saints’ offense, so lively early, went quiet against six of Syracuse’s seven relievers. St. Paul couldn’t find another big inning to match the Mets’ late push.
Syracuse added insurance in the ninth on Melendez’s second homer of the night, this one off Julian Merryweather. St. Paul still had a chance in the bottom of the inning, getting two runners on with two outs, but the Saints couldn’t come up with the game-tying hit and dropped their fourth straight.
St. Paul is now 78-64, while Syracuse improved to 75-66. The teams finish the series Sunday at 2:07 p.m., with Trent Baker (4-3, 4.73) set to start for the Saints against Justin Hagenman (0-0, 4.50) for the Mets.
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