Vientos homers, Syracuse wins third straight game with 5-4 victory over Norfolk Norfolk, VA – Mark Vientos homered for the third consecutive game as the Syracuse Mets won their third consecutive game, beating the Norfolk Tides, 5-4, on Wednesday night at Harbor Park. Syracuse had ten hits in the win, marking the third consecutive game the Mets have had double-digit hits. Syracuse (23-38) scored the game’s first run in the top of the fourth inning. JT Riddle led off with a double. Two batters later, Luke Ritter doubled, scoring Riddle to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Ritter is 8-for-17 in his last four games with four RBIs. The Mets added to their edge in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Vientos launched a solo home run over the left-field wall, extending the Syracuse advantage to 2-0. Vientos has four home runs in his last three games with at least one homer in all three contests. Norfolk (30-32) struck back in the bottom of the fifth. Cody Roberts led off with a home run that trimmed the Syracuse lead to one, 2-1. Then, Dylan Harris walked, Terrin Vavra singled, and Rylan Bannon singled to load the bases. Gunnar Henderson followed with a groundball to second base that Ritter misplayed for an error that brought home a run and kept the bases loaded as the game became knotted, 2-2. The Mets caught a break when Jacob Nottingham grounded into a double play back to the mound where Vavra was out at home, and Bannon was out at third for the first two outs of the frame. A walk to Shed Long Jr. reloaded the bases, which was costly because a wild pitch brought home Henderson from third to give the Tides a 3-2 advantage before a groundout ended the inning. Syracuse responded in the sixth though. Riddle led off with another double. Two batters later, with one out, Ritter grounded a ball to third, but Norfolk third baseman Rylan Bannon made an errant throw that allowed Ritter to reach base and Riddle to score from second, tying the game up, 3-3. The Mets regained the lead for good in the eighth. Daniel Palka led off with a single and advanced to second on a Riddle groundout. Travis Blankenhorn then singled into right field, scoring Palka from second to give Syracuse a 4-3 edge. After Ritter walked and Nick Meyer walked, the bases were loaded for Johneshwy Fargas, who was hit by a pitch, scoring Blankenhorn to push the Mets advantage to two, 5-3. The Tides pulled closer in the ninth. With one out, Gunnar Henderson homered to right-center field to cut the Syracuse lead to one, 5-4. Mets reliever R.J. Alvarez retired the next two batters, though, securing the win for Syracuse. The Mets continue their six-game series against the Tides on Thursday afternoon with the third game of the series. Left-hander Nate Fisher is slated to start on the mound for Syracuse opposite Norfolk left-hander DL Hall. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m.