After a tough outing on Aug. 5, Mets starter Jonah Tong has now turned in two straight strong performances for Triple-A Syracuse.
The right-hander struck out six over 4.2 IP on Sunday against Jacksonville, allowing just one run on three hits and two walks.
He came out of the gate firing, striking out two in the first inning, but let up the one run on a solo homer in the bottom of the second inning. Tong fought back to retire three straight including back-to-back strikeouts and kept it going with a 1-2-3 third inning.
Tong hit the leadoff man in the fourth inning before getting some help from his defense on a double play and caught stealing. His day came to an end in the fifth inning after surrendering a two-out walk and single. Reliever Joe Jacques came in to get the third out and keep the runs off Tong's scorecard.
Syracuse's bullpen was then able to hold Jacksonville hitless for the rest of the game, pulling out a 2-1 win. Hayden Senger drove in the team's first run in the second inning, and Eric Wagaman's sacrifice fly in the seventh gave them the lead.
While Tong didn't earn the win, he did lower his season ERA to 5.15 and is up to 115 strikeouts over 94.1 IP.