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| Jonathan Araúz had two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs for Syracuse on Sunday (Herm Card - herm4444@gmail.com). |
Durham, NC – The two-week road trip for the Syracuse Mets ended in frustrating fashion, as the Durham Bulls walked off winners in the bottom of the ninth inning with a 5-4 victory on a steamy Sunday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Despite the loss, it could not dim what was a very successful time spent away from NBT Bank Stadium. After taking four out of six at the Buffalo Bisons last week, the Mets won five out of six games at the Durham Bulls this past week. Syracuse has also won 10 out of its last 13 games overall.
Once again, Syracuse (33-41) got off to a great start by plating a
run in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead right away. The Mets got the
first batters of the ballgame, Rafael Ortega and Ronny Mauricio, on base via a
walk and a single respectively, and after a Mark Vientos popout, Luke Voit
drove in Ortega from third via a sacrifice fly to center field for a 1-0 lead.
Syracuse scored first in five out of the six games this week.
In the bottom of the second, Durham (40-35) roared in front in a
flash. First, with a runner on base and one out, Nick Dini launched a no-doubt,
two-run homer over the 32-foot-high wall in left field to make it a 2-1 game.
The very next batter, Greg Jones, hit a solo shot over the right field wall to
make it a 3-1 game just like that. It was the first homer of the week for Dini
and the second big fly of the week for Jones, a former first-round pick by the
Tampa Bay Rays.
In the bottom of the third, the Bulls hit yet another home run
when Ruben Cardenas smacked a shot over that high wall in left field to make it
a 4-1 game. Cardenas hit two home runs this week and has 16 homers on the
season. Five of those round trippers have come against the Mets.
In the top of the fourth, Syracuse began its comeback. After a
Luke Voit single with one out, Jonathan Araúz lifted a pitch on the outside
part of the plate over the wall in left-center field for a two-run homer that
slimmed the Mets deficit to 4-3. It capped off a remarkable power surge for
Syracuse this week in Durham. In six games, the Mets hit a remarkable 15 home
runs.
In the top of the sixth, the Mets scored again to tie up the game
at four. First, Syracuse loaded up the bases with a Ronny Mauricio single and
walks from Mark Vientos and Luke Voit. Then, Araúz sliced a sharp single into
center field to scored Mauricio and keep the bases loaded with nobody out and
the score tied, 4-4. It was Araúz’s third RBI of the day. However, Syracuse
left a lot of meat on the bone in the sixth. Jaylin Davis struck out and CarlosCortes lined into a double play after Araúz’s game-tying single, meaning the
game would stay knotted up at four into the late innings.
While the Mets offense was rallying back, so was their starting
pitcher. After allowing the four runs on three home runs in the first three
innings, Denyi Reyes turned the outing around. By the end of the night, Reyes
had tossed six innings, allowed five hits and just two walks while striking out
eight batters. Every one of Reyes’s strikeouts were swinging. After Cardenas
hit his home run in the third, Reyes retired ten of the final 12 batters he
faced in order. The final eight batters Reyes faced did not have a hit.
The game remained tied at four into the bottom of the ninth as
Nate Lavender struck out the side in the seventh for Syracuse and Hunter Parsons equaled the feat in the eighth. Parsons came back out for the bottom of
the ninth trying to send the game into extra innings, but Durham finally broke
through for their first win this week. Tristan Gray singled, Niko Hulsizer
walked, and Kameron Misner singled to end the game, scoring Gray from second on
the single three batters into the bottom of the ninth for a 5-4 victory. Durham
and Syracuse ended up splitting the 12 games they played against one another
during the 2023 regular season.
Syracuse finally returns home next week after spending the prior two weeks on the road. The Mets kick off a six-game series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A New York Yankees) on Wednesday evening after off days on Monday and Tuesday. The first game of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium.
Jonathan Araúz just hit our 15th home run this week in Durham.
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) June 25, 2023
That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/EHpEWjqVXL
Nate Lavender impresses again with a 1-2-3, 3 strikeout inning for @SyracuseMets 24 Ks in 15.2 innings for the AAA Mets - 43 Ks in 26 innings overall this year with a 2.08 overall ERA. #Mets #LGM #MetsTwitter @ernestdove @MiLBMetsMadness @bkfan09 pic.twitter.com/lkiT2RUXDE
— Mets News and Links (@JohnFromAlbany) June 26, 2023
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