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Game Recap and Highlights: Syracuse drops both halves of Saturday doubleheader against Lehigh Valley

 

DJ Stewart hit a two-run home run for Syracuse in game two of Saturday's doubleheader and now has hit six home runs in nine games against Lehigh Valley this season (Herm Card - herm4444@gmail.com).

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

 

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets had a tough day at the ballpark on Saturday afternoon turned evening, dropping both halves of a doubleheader against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The Mets fell in game one of the doubleheader, 5-1, followed by an 8-5 defeat in game two of the twin bill. The IronPigs have won three out of the first four games in the series.

  

Syracuse nearly opened the scoring in the top of the first in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, leaving the bases loaded. In the second, the Mets would indeed crack the scoreboard for the first time. After hits from Carlos Cortes and Tanner Murphy put two runners on base with one out, Danny Mendick brought home a run via a soft single into shallow center field. Mendick had been a consistent presence at the plate early on in the series, homering in each of the first two games.  

In the top of the third, Lehigh Valley jumped in front in a big way. After Esteban Quiroz singled starting off the inning, Jake Cave crushed a go-ahead, two-run home run way beyond the fence in right-center field for a 2-1 advantage for the IronPigs. The home run was easily one of the longest hit at NBT Bank Stadium all season long. The estimated distance on Cave’s big fly was 454 feet.  

From there, each starting pitcher held the line in game one of the doubleheader. José Butto allowed just two runs on four hits in five innings of work, striking out three batters in the process. The right-handed starter navigated through choppy waters at times as he walked four batters in his outing but limited the damage and stranded three runners on base in his five innings of work.  

Speaking of navigating potential trouble, the IronPigs’ starter, Cristopher Sánchez, had to dance around some serious early trouble. In the first two innings of his start, the lanky left-hander allowed five hits and one run. Sánchez had to strand five total runners on base in the first two innings to limit the damage. From there, however, he locked back in and turned in quite the outing by the end of the afternoon. Sánchez ended up working six innings, allowing just one run on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. By the time he finished up, Sánchez had stranded eight runners on base in six innings of work.  

In the top of the seventh, Lehigh Valley pulled away with three final runs to close out the 5-1 win in game one of the doubleheader. It was straight power in the seventh for the IronPigs, who started the frame with back-to-back solo home runs from Scott Kingery and Esteban Quiroz. Later in the inning, Hall wrapped up the scoring with an RBI double off the wall in right-center field that scored Jim Haley to make it a 5-1 game. Hall also hit a three-run home run in Friday night’s win for Lehigh Valley.  

At the start of the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, each team came out swinging. Lehigh Valley (32-28) raced out to a big lead with four runs in the top of the first, chasing David Peterson from the game. Peterson started off strong, striking out the first two batters that he faced. From there, the inning went downhill. Dustin Peterson homered on a two-strike pitch to make it 1-0, followed by consecutive walks to Haley and John Hicks that extended the inning. A Simon Muzziotti single into right field extended the lead to 2-0 with two outs, moving Hicks to third in the process. Jhailyn Ortiz drew yet another walk to load up the bases with two outs, followed by a fateful throwing error from Peterson that ended his night early. Vimael Machín hit a slow roller back to the mound that Peterson tossed poorly to first, allowing Hicks and Muzziotti to score and cap off the four-run flurry in the first for the IronPigs.  

Syracuse (23-38) didn’t take that early onslaught from Lehigh Valley lying down, scoring twice in the bottom of the first to get right back in the ballgame. With Mendick standing on second with two outs, DJ Stewart stepped to the plate and continued to terrorize the IronPigs. The former Florida State Seminole crushed a 434-foot homer to dead center field, nearly clearing the tall black batter’s eye beyond the fence. Stewart now has six home runs in nine games against Lehigh Valley so far this season.  

In the bottom of the second, the Mets scored three more times to grab their first lead in game two of the doubleheader. Starting off the inning, Jonathan Araúz walked, and Carlos Cortes singled to put two runners on base with nobody out. A Nick Meyer groundout moved each runner up 90 feet, followed by an RBI groundout from Michael Perez that scored Araúz and advanced Cortes to third with two outs. Then, Syracuse caught a break. Mendick hit a slow roller to shortstop that looked destined to end the inning, but Weston Wilson threw the ball away, placing Mendick on second and allowing Cortes to score and tie the game, 4-4. The very next batter, Ronny Mauricio, sliced a single into center field that plated Mendick and gave the Mets a 5-4 lead just like that.  

The rest of the night would belong to the IronPigs, who scored the game’s final four runs to cap off an 8-5 win and a doubleheader sweep over the Mets. The pivotal inning in the second game of the twin bill was the fourth inning when Lehigh Valley scored three times to take the lead for good. The IronPigs sent seven men to the plate in the inning. First, Lehigh Valley loaded up the bases on singles from Vimael Machin and Weston Wilson plus a walk from Scott Kingery. A sacrifice fly from Jake Cave brought in one run, and then later in the inning, the damage was officially complete when Jim Haley blooped a two-out, two-strike, two-run double into shallow right field to score two runs and make it a 7-5 game. Four of the runs in the game for the IronPigs came with two outs.  

Lehigh Valley wrapped up its scoring in the sixth when Kingery led off the inning with a home run for an 8-5 advantage. The middle infielder hit home runs in each half of Saturday’s doubleheader. While the hitters for the IronPigs did the job late, their pitchers held up their end of the bargain as well. The Syracuse Mets did not have a hit in the final five innings of the game, recording just three total baserunners during that time. Jesus Cruz, Jake Jewell, and Andrew Bellatti tossed the final four innings of the game in hitless and scoreless fashion.  

Syracuse wraps up its week at home against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Sunday afternoon. Game five of the five-game series is slated for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander Alex Valverde is scheduled to pitch for the Mets.  

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