Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets offense, after a one-night sabbatical, cranked back into gear on Friday night. After a 7-3 loss on Thursday, the Mets left no doubt in a 12-5 win over the Charlotte Knights (Triple-A affiliate, Chicago White Sox) on a sunny night at NBT Bank Stadium. The Mets have now scored 71 combined runs in their past seven games. The final series of the season is now tied at two games apiece.
The scoring fun started for Syracuse (76-71, 30-43) with a five-run flurry in the bottom of the second to race out to a 5-0 lead. All the runs for the Mets came with two outs – with DJ Stewart on third and José Azocar on second, Hayden Senger got party started with a two-run single that plated both men. After a Jett Wiliams single extended the inning, Drew Gilbert brought everyone home with a three-run homer that sailed over the right-field fence in the blink of an eye. It was a slump-busting swing for Gilbert, who had not homered in the last 11 games.
In the bottom of the third, the good times kept on rolling with five more Syracuse runs. Once again, late magic spurred on the Mets in the third inning. Carlos Cortes had singled in two with a single earlier in the third, but the inning was in danger of ending there with Cortes on second and Senger on first with two outs. Williams extended the inning with a sharp single into right, bringing the right man to the plate. Gilbert smacked another single into centerfield to score two runs, his fourth and fifth runs driven in in the first three innings of the ballgame alone. That was followed by a Brett Baty single that scored Williams and upped the lead to a remarkable 10-0 at just three innings into the game. Eight of those 10 initial runs for the Mets came with two outs…