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| Danny Mendick hit a three-run home run, an RBI double, and walked during Syracuse's win on Friday night (Rick Nelson). |
Durham, NC – The Syracuse Mets won yet again on Friday night, riding sterling starting pitching from Joey Lucchesi plus timely hitting to a 5-3 win over the Durham Bulls on an occasionally rainy evening. The start of the game was delayed by just more than an hour because to a passing rainstorm at the scheduled first pitch time of 6:35 p.m. The rain didn't damper the mood for the Mets, who have won the first three games in the series and eight out of their last ten games overall.
Syracuse (31-40) got right to work on Friday night, scoring a run in the top of the first to sprint out to a 1-0 lead. The Mets did their damage with two outs. After the first two batters were retired in order, Mark Vientos slapped a single into right field to keep the inning alive. Luke Voit then walked to put two runners on base with two outs and bring Rafael Ortega to the plate. Ortega promptly hit a slow roller up the third-base line, and as Durham's starting pitcher, Jacob Lopez, fielded the soft bouncing ball, he threw it away down the first-base line. The errant throw allowed Vientos to sprint home from second and push the Mets out to an early 1-0 lead.
Durham (39-33) bounced back in the bottom of the second, scoring twice to take their first lead of the night at 2-1. With one out, Tristan Gray walked, and Niko Hulsizer doubled off of Joey Lucchesi to put two runners in scoring position. The next batter, Blake Hunt, got the job done in a big way. The native Californian bounced a double off the left-field wall, scoring Gray and Hulszier to push the Bulls out to a 2-1 lead. Hunt burned his old friend with his two-run double – both Hunt and Lucchesi were once promising prospects in the San Diego Padres minor league system.
Lucchesi got out of the second inning without any further trouble and then settled into another superb outing. By the end of the night, the 30-year-old left-hander worked seven sterling innings of two-run ball, striking out eight batters (all swinging) in the process. After his rocky first two innings, Lucchesi allowed just five baserunners in his final five innings of work. The reigning International League Pitcher of the Week now owns a 2.36 ERA in nine starts, striking out 53 batters in 53 and one-third innings of work. Lucchesi also owns a 6-1 record for the Mets on the mound this season.
In the top of the fourth, Syracuse's offense gave its starting pitcher some run support with a two-out rally. First, Michael Perez reached base via an error, and Luke Ritter walked to put two runners on base. Then, with two outs, Danny Mendick stepped to the plate and did damage, smacking a high drive down the left-field line that cleared the 32-foot-high wall with ease for a home run, propelling the Syracuse Mets in front 4-2 via the three-run shot.
In the top of the sixth, it was familiar faces yet again that pushed the Mets lead up to three. Carlos Cortes and Mendick hit back-to-back doubles to drive in yet another run to cap off the scoring on the evening for Syracuse. Mendick also homered in Wednesday night's game and has reached base eight times already in this week's series. Cortes finished Friday night's game 3-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, a single, and a run scored.
To Durham's credit, the Bulls did not go down without a fight. In the eighth, Durham put two runners on base with one out before Syracuse reliever John Curtiss buckled down and got the next two batters in order to escape the inning without any trouble.
In the ninth, down to their last strike with nobody on base and two outs, Greg Jones lofted a home run over the high wall in left field to make it a 5-3 game. The next batter, Jonathan Aranda, walked to extend the game and bring the potential tying run to the plate in the form of Osleivis Basabe. Syracuse closer Dennis Santana then got the job done, inducing a weak popout off Basabe's bat that Ronny Mauricio squeezed at second base to earn the eighth win in the last ten games for the Mets. Santana now has four saves this season for Syracuse and also owns a 3.72 ERA in 19 and one-third innings of work, striking out 23 batters in the process.
Syracuse is on the road once all week, wrapping up the second half of a two-week long road trip. Games four and five of the series at the Durham Bulls are scheduled to be held on Saturday. Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m., with the second half of the twin bill to follow about a half hour after the first game ends. Right-hander José Butto is slated to start the first game of the doubleheader for the Mets, opposed by right-hander Evan McKendry for the Bulls.
Yeah, you're not hitting the churve.
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) June 24, 2023
Joey Lucchesi's final line tonight ⬇️
7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K pic.twitter.com/8z9v2CEfTH
Danny Mendick ain't afraid of no Blue Monster. pic.twitter.com/g4vUPnKqoq
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) June 24, 2023
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