RailRiders’ Ali Sanchez bats during the RailRiders game against Syracuse at PNC Field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
RailRiders’ Dom Hamel pitches during the game against Syracuse at PNC Field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
RailRiders’ Marco Luciano fields the ball during the game against Syracuse at PNC field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
RailRiders’ Jonathan Ornelas throws the ball in from left field during the game against Syracuse at PNC field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Syracuse Mets’ Nick Morabito bats during the RailRiders game at PNC field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
RailRiders’ Oswaldo Cabrera high fives Little Leaguers before the game against Syracuse at PNC field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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RailRiders’ Ali Sanchez bats during the RailRiders game against Syracuse at PNC Field in Moosic on Friday, May 15, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
One night after hitting five home runs, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders had their bats quieted by Syracuse pitcher Zach Thornton.
The righthander who is the New York Mets’ No. 13 prospect threw six shutout innings as Syracuse downed the RailRiders, 8-2, on Friday night at PNC Field in Moosic.
Thornton allowed three hits, walked one and struck out nine. His teammates backed that performance with plenty of offense.
Yonny Hernandez put the Mets on the board with a one-out home run to right field off RailRiders starter Dom Hamel. Cristian Pache followed with a single. Former RailRider Ben Rortvedt hit a sinking line drive to left for a single and when the ball got past a diving Jonathan Ornelas for an error, Pache scored and Rortvedt went to third. Nick Morabito’s two-out single plated Rortvedt and gave Syracuse a 3-0 lead.
Pache homered with one out in the fourth to extend the margin to 4-0.
Syracuse then broke the game open with four runs in the top of the seventh. Harrison Cohen relieved Hamel and was greeted by a home run from Rortvedt. Later in the inning, Christian Arroyo had a RBI single. After Bradley Hanner relieved Cohen, two more runs scored on a throwing error by George Lombard Jr. to give the Mets an 8-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the eighth, with Thornton out of the game, the RailRiders (22-19) finally broke through against the Syracuse bullpen. Ali Sanchez drew a leadoff walk against Luke Jackson and took second on a wild pitch. One out later, Kenedy Corona walked. Mike Baumann replaced Jackson and walked Lombard to load the bases for Oswaldo Cabrera, who singled to score two runs.
A.J. Minter, who is on a MLB rehab assignment, pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout to close out the Syracuse victory.
On Saturday night, the series is scheduled to continue with Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees making a rehab start for the RailRiders. It concludes Sunday at 1:35 p.m.