As the MiLB season winds down, the Syracuse Mets were the only team in action. The Mets would provide plenty of excitement, scoring five runs in the final two innings, which included RBI hits from Jake Mangum and Francisco Álvarez, to beat Worcester 5-0. José Butto turned in his most impressive performance of the season on the mound, throwing seven shutout innings and striking out 11.
Syracuse Mets (60-83) 5 vs. Worcester Red Sox (72-70) 0 BOX SCORE
- CF Jake Mangum: 1-for-5, R, RBI, .305/.365/.436
- DH Francisco Álvarez: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, .258/.365/.519
- C Michael Perez: 1-for-4, RBI, .183/.298/.254
Syracuse found themselves in a pitcher’s duel with Worcester as neither team could bring a run home going into the eighth inning. A two-out Travis Jankowski walk would bring up the Mets’ hottest hitter in Jake Mangum, who connected for an RBI single to put the Mets on the board. Next up, Francisco Álvarez would drive Mangum home with an RBI-double, his 78th overall this season. In the ninth, RBI singles by JT Riddle and Michael Perez gave Syracuse insurance runs as the Mets went on to win 5-0.
With his RBI tonight, Álvarez has driven in a run in four straight games and has tallied nine RBIs over that stretch. Mangum continues to have a September to remember as he is now batting .364 with an OPS of .940 in 15 games.
https://twitter.com/SyracuseMets/status/1572747787376398337
- RHP José Butto: (W,1-1) 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, BB, 11 SO, 2.34 ERA
- RHP Stephen Nogosek: 1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.27 ERA
- LHP Sam Clay: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 3.43 ERA
José Butto made sure that his first win in Triple-A was memorable. Butto had what was easily his best performance of the season as he fired seven scoreless innings, gave up two hits, and one walk, and dominated Worcester batters all night with 11 strikeouts. The bullpen would pick up where Butto left off as Nogosek and Clay would combine to throw two scoreless innings of their own to give Butto and the Mets a 5-0 win.
In September, Butto has arguably been the best pitcher in the Mets system. After his sensational outing tonight, he lowered his September ERA to 0.73 with 23 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings. With his 11 strikeouts in this game, he tied a career-high, and it’s also the second time this month where he’s gone seven scoreless innings in a start.
