Thornton’s five-scoreless-inning bridge and Ross’s splitter strikeout lift Syracuse over RailRiders

Daniel Duarte set the tone as the opener, Zach Thornton stretched the lead with five scoreless innings, and Dylan Ross sealed the Sunday win that secured a Mets farm-series victory.

By The Apex Times Newsroom2 min readAI-assisted Apex article

Syracuse’s lineup and bullpen put together a clean finishing sequence on Sunday, when the Syracuse Mets beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 4-3 at NBT Bank Stadium to take the week’s series four games to three. The game turned on pitching after the first frame, when the Yankees’ top farm club used an early run to take control before Syracuse’s rotation of young arms and late-inning bats flipped the outcome.

Daniel Duarte worked as the opener and allowed the RailRiders’ first run in the top of the first, after the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lineup started fast with a Tyler Hardman RBI double. Duarte then recorded the first three outs to keep the deficit at one, handing the ball to Zach Thornton, a left-hander who would serve as the crucial middle-inning bridge.

Thornton’s stretch defined the day for Syracuse’s staff. After Duarte’s early work, Thornton followed with five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out five. Syracuse then found its own rhythm at the plate, using baserunners to erase the early deficit and build leverage for the later innings.

The Mets tied the game in the sixth. Jihwan Bae began the inning with a double, Francisco Alvarez drew a walk, and Matt Rudick delivered a key single through the left side to bring in Bae and make it 1-1. From there, Syracuse targeted the RailRiders in the eighth, where small-ball execution mattered as much as swings.

In the eighth, Syracuse used a squeeze play to seize the lead, with Ryan Clifford laying down a safety squeeze that scored Bae and made it 2-1. Two batters later, Rudick crushed a two-run home run to right-center, extending the advantage to 4-1. Yahoo Sports’ prospect report highlighted the same late-inning theme, describing an insurance run created on a bunt situation before Rudick’s two-run blast.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre refused to go quiet. The RailRiders pushed back in the ninth with a rally that included an error and a walk to set the stage. Ernesto Martinez Jr. cashed in with an RBI groundout, and Kenedy Corona followed with an RBI double to trim Syracuse’s lead to one run, loading the bases with the tying and go-ahead swings within reach.

Dylan Ross, the Mets’ closer on this day, finished the job. With the tying and go-ahead runs aboard, Ross struck out George Lombard Jr. to end the game and secure the victory and series win for Syracuse. Yahoo’s prospect report added pitch detail, saying Lombard Jr. went down on three splitters, underlining the matchup’s precision even as the RailRiders created late pressure.

Why It Matters

For Syracuse, the win was a meaningful series sweep component against a Yankees affiliate, strengthening confidence in how the Mets’ upper-minors group can manage close games late.
The performance pattern mattered: Duarte’s opener containment, Thornton’s middle-inning control, and Ross’s ability to end the game under loaded-base pressure.
Matt Rudick’s late power provided the separation that Syracuse needed after tying the game in the sixth, illustrating how quickly run production can flip in Triple-A.
Pitching development stayed at the center of the story, with Thornton’s long scoreless stretch and Ross’s strikeout finish reflecting different parts of the same bullpen ecosystem.

Sources

Key Facts

Syracuse Mets defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 4-3 at NBT Bank Stadium on Sunday, June 7, 2026, to win the series four games to three.
Daniel Duarte worked as the opener and allowed the RailRiders’ run in the top of the first; he recorded the first three outs before handing off.
Zach Thornton followed Duarte with five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five.
Syracuse tied the game in the sixth on Matt Rudick’s RBI single after baserunners Jihwan Bae and Francisco Alvarez reached.
In the eighth, Syracuse added insurance including a bunt/safety-squeeze run and Rudick’s two-run home run to extend the lead.
In the ninth, Dylan Ross struck out George Lombard Jr. with the bases loaded and two outs to seal the win.