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| Francisco Álvarez reached base four times, including twice with hits, for Syracuse in Wednesday's season finale (Rick Nelson). |
Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets closed out the 2022 season in front of an announced crowd of 5,247 fans at NBT Bank Stadium on a Wednesday afternoon in the Salt City. Unfortunately, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs spoiled the party, scoring two late runs on their way to a comeback, 4-3 win over the Mets. The game was a bit of a marathon, taking just about three hours to complete while both teams combined to utilize 19 pitchers.
Early on, each team took turns trading runs. Both sides notched runs in the second inning. Lehigh Valley (76-72) scored in the top of the second when Rafael Marchan led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second base on a passed ball, stole third base, and scored on an RBI groundout from Madison Stokes for a 1-0 IronPigs lead.
Syracuse (64-85) had the answer in the bottom of the second to tie the game up at one. Remarkably, the Mets also did it without getting a hit. Khalil Lee walked with one out in the inning, promptly swiping his way to second and into scoring position. He took off again with Branden Fryman at the plate, and as Fryman hit a groundball to shortstop with the defender playing back, Lee kept right on running home to score the first run of the game for the home team, knotting the game up, 1-1.
Each team scored again in the third inning. The IronPigs took the lead back when Ali Castillo and Scott Kingery produced runs via back-to-back doubles, for a 2-1 edge, but that lead would not last.
The Mets produced two runs in the bottom half of the third inning to take the lead as eight men came to the plate in the frame. First, the bases were loaded up via walks to Yolmer Sánchez and Gosuke Katoh plus a single for Francisco Álvarez. Then, JT Riddle brought home two runs with a groundball single into right field that gave Syracuse a 3-2 lead. Álvarez was one of the runs to cross home plate. The top prospect in Minor League Baseball reached base three times in the final game of the season.
The game remained in Syracuse's favor at 3-2 until the seventh inning when Lehigh Valley began to make its winning charge. First, the IronPigs tied the game up in the seventh when Daniel Robertson launched a solo home run over the left-field fence to tie the game up, 3-3.
Then, in the top of the eighth, Lehigh Valley scored the game's winning run. Lehigh Valley loaded up the bases with a single and two walks. Then, Madison Stokes drew a bases-loaded walk to make it a 4-3 game and give the IronPigs the lead for good. The IronPigs won the season series, taking 11 of the 19 total games between the two teams.
The Syracuse Mets will return to the field in 2023 on the road in Worcester on March 31, 2023. Syracuse's 2023 home opener is scheduled for Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at NBT Bank Stadium against the Rochester Red Wings. New season tickets go on sale November 1, 2022. Fans can email Will Commisso any time at wcommisso@syracusemets.com to get on the waiting list or call the ticket office at 315-474-7833. Flex Plans go on sale Black Friday, November 25, 2022. Single game tickets for the 2023 season go on sale Saturday, March 4, 2023.
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