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Syracuse, N.Y. — With a chance at a comeback victory in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Syracuse Mets stranded the bases loaded and fell just short in a 6-4 loss to the Rochester Red Wings on a rainy Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium.

On a day when both starting pitchers were impressive, it was the Rochester offense that got on board first. In the top of the first inning, Darren Baker’s RBI single scored Jackson Cluff to put the Red Wings ahead, 1-0.

Syracuse quickly responded in the bottom of the third when Gilberto Celestino smacked a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1.

Rochester jumped ahead with one run in the fifth inning to go up 2-1, but Mets starter Nolan McLean ended his start with a scoreless sixth. The right-hander pitched six innings, allowed one earned run and struck out six batters.

In the seventh, the Red Wings scored four runs to take a 6-1 lead, doing so with three hits and two walks.

Syracuse bounced back in the bottom of the seventh inning by cutting it to a two-run game. Luke Ritter singled, Yonny Hernandez was hit by a pitch and Drew Gilbert singled to load the bases.

Celestino grounded into a double play, scoring Ritter to make it a 6-2 game. With Hernandez on base and two outs, Jon Singleton hit a two-run homer and cut the deficit to 6-4.

The next best chance for the Mets came in the ninth when Gilbert, Celestino and Walton all walked to load the bases. All three runners were stranded to end the game.

Syracuse went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.

Syracuse (21-27) continues its six-game series with Rochester (14-32) on Friday night. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Right-hander Blade Tidwell is scheduled to pitch for the Mets against left hander Andrew Alvarez for the Red Wings.