Mets' Jonah Tong continues string of success, twirling scoreless outing with Syracuse

Jonah Tong appears to be finding his groove with Triple-A Syracuse. 

It’s been a bit of a rocky season for the Mets‘ young top pitching prospect, but he’s been throwing the ball much better over his past few outings.

Tong finished just one out shy of recording a quality start on Saturday night, delivering 5.2 shutout innings in a 3-0 win over a veteran-filled Worcester lineup. 

He walked the very first batter he faced on just four pitches, then immediately pushed him into scoring position with a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, but did well to strand him there. 

The right-hander then worked around a two-single and another throwing error of his own to leave a man in scoring position with a strikeout via a fastball on the corner. 

He worked around a one-out single in the third, a leadoff walk in the fourth, and a leadoff double in the fifth. 

Tong came back out for the sixth but was pulled after retiring the first two batters he faced, ending his day with just three hits and a pair of walks allowed while striking out three. 

He has now allowed one run or fewer in five of his last six starts, and two runs or fewer in six of his last seven. 

Though his overall numbers still aren’t where they need to be, it’s encouraging to see the 23-year-old finding his footing down the stretch in the regular season. 

If he can keep this up, perhaps he’ll be called upon to receive another opportunity to settle in with the big-league club before the year comes to a close. 

Tong pitched to a 3.60 ERA over three MLB appearances earlier this season.