By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the eighth time in the past nine games, the Rochester Red Wings collected double-digit hits.
It didn’t matter.
The Syracuse Mets scored four runs in the seventh and added the go-ahead tally one frame later as Rochester fell 7-6 Tuesday night in front of 9,744 fans at Frontier Field.
Drew Maggi and Tomás Telis collected three hits apiece to pace the Wings. The pair both connected in the sixth inning when Rochester scored three times to take a 6-2 lead.
“They’ve both have been just staying on the ball,” Wings manager Joel Skinner said of the duo which have five multi-hit performances apiece in the past 10 games. “They’re both squaring the ball up, but they also have the ability to put the ball in play.”
Telis followed a Jaylin Davis solo shot with a single. Maggi later drove in a run with a base hit.
“When you stay on the ball like Maggi, those types of hits start to come when you don’t over-swing,” Skinner said of the single which eluded Syracuse first baseman, Travis Taijeron. “It barely cleared the apron.”
Maggi finished 3-for-4 on the night with a walk, two RBI and a run scored. Telis went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
‘You put the ball in play and good things happen,” Skinner added.
Syracuse sent eight to the plate in the four-run seventh. Rajai Davis led with a single. Ruben Tejada walked. One out later, Rene Rivera brought home the first Mets run of the stanza with a base hit.
Rymer Liriano added a run-scoring single. Taijeron made it a one-run game with a double.
Arismendy Alcantara tied the score with a sacrifice fly.
Davis tripled and scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the eighth.
Devin Smeltzer started and threw five innings for the Wings. The left-hander struck out six and allowed two runs on seven hits. Smeltzer worked out of a third-inning jam that saw the first four Syracuse batters reach base. Tim Tebow led with a single and later scored on a bases-loaded hit by pitch.
Tebow connected on his third home run of the season in the fourth inning.
Wings pitchers struck out 12 batters on the night. The home staff came into the game averaging 9.5 strike outs per contest. With 770 strike outs through 82 games, the Wings rank third in that category in the International League.
“You can’t strike anybody out until you get two strikes,” Skinner said matter of factly. “After they get two strikes, they’re being aggressive and putting hitters away.”
For the third time in the last five games Rochester (40-42) had the chance to reach the .500 mark.
The teams close the three-game set on Wednesday with a 7:05 PM start. Chase DeJong (0-4, 10.06 ERA) is scheduled to get the start for Rochester.
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