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| Luke Voit homered for Syracuse on Wednesday and has now homered in four straight games (James Farrance). |
Syracuse Mets Press Release: Allentown, PA – The Syracuse Mets and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs engaged in one of the strangest baseball games you will ever see on Wednesday night. First, Lehigh Valley scored 12 runs in the first three innings to roar out to a massive lead. Then, Syracuse scored the next 11 runs to harbor dreams of one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history. However, it wasn't to be. The IronPigs scored the final two tallies of the game to finish off a wild, 14-11 win on a warm evening in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The two teams have now split the first two games of the week-long, six-game series.
Lehigh Valley (50-45, 14-8) got right to it, scoring twice in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead right out of the gates. After Simon Muzziotti reached on an error leading off the frame and then Kody Clemens flew out, Weston Wilson took a hanging breaking ball from José Butto and smacked it over the right-center field wall for a two-run blast. The IronPigs have had an affinity for the long ball so far this week. Even in their 10-3 loss on Tuesday, they still managed to hit three home runs. Weston Wilson hit one of those homers on Tuesday as well.
Nursing a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the third, the IronPigs seemingly put the game well out of reach with an inning that Syracuse (40-56, 7-15) would soon like to forget. Lehigh Valley scored ten times in the third on five hits plus four walks, sending 13 batters to the plate in the fateful frame. The momentous third inning for the IronPigs was capped off by a grand slam by Aramis Garcia that made it a 12-0 game. Garcia had also doubled earlier in the frame, and he was the only IronPigs to have any extra-base hits in the ten-run flurry. The other three hits were singles from Esteban Quiroz, Simon Muzziotti, and Kody Clemens. All of those singles drove in runs.
While the IronPigs batters hummed along early in the contest, their starting pitcher handled his business. Drew Hutchison allowed just one hit and two walks in four scoreless innings to start the game, highlighted by seven strikeouts.
In the fifth, however, things took a turn. Hutchison walked the first two batters he faced, Carlos Cortes and Nick Meyer and then left with an injury while he faced a third batter, Tomas Nido, in the frame. Nido later walked against the new pitcher, Taylor Lehman, and then things began to get interesting. First, Rafael Ortega drove in Cortes with an RBI groundout. Then, after Ronny Mauricio walked to put two runners back on base, Luke Voit pummeled a three-run homer over the left-center field fence to make it a 12-5 game. Voit now has homered in four straight games, the first Syracuse Met to achieve the feat this season.
The Mets got another run back in the sixth when Luke Ritter homered on the first pitch of the top of the sixth. Ritter now has 22 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A this season. The former Wichita State Shocker is off to a hot start to the week at Lehigh Valley. In the first two games, he has four hits, two walks, and four runs driven in.
In the top of the seventh, the Mets nearly completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Syracuse baseball. After once being down 12-0 and entering the seventh still trailing 12-6, the Mets put together once final furious flurry. Ortega started the inning with a single, and after a Ronny Mauricio strikeout, Voit walked and Abraham Almonte singled to drive in a run and put runners on first and third with one out.
The fun was just getting started. Jonathan Araúz and Ritter walked to make it a 12-8 game and load the bases with one out for Carlos Cortes. The former South Carolina Gamecock then smashed a sharp single into center field, plating two runs and turning it into a 12-10 game. Nick Meyer promptly walked to reload the bases and bring Tomas Nido to the plate with the Mets on the verge of remarkably tying the game. Nido briefly quelled those drives with a strikeout, but that was immediately followed by a bases-loaded walk to Ortega that made it a 12-11 game and brought Mauricio back to the plate with the bases loaded and the chance to make the comeback dream come true. However, Mauricio struck out for the second time in the seventh inning to end the inning with five runs across and the Mets still trailing, 12-11.
In the bottom of the seventh, the IronPigs scored two fateful runs to cap off the crazy night of scoring, After Wilson grounded out to start the inning, consecutive walks to Darick Hall and Jordan Qsar put two runners back on base with one out. That was followed by an RBI single from Garcia and an RBI groundout from Quiroz that pushed the lead to 14-11 and gave Lehigh Valley the sorely needed insurance they would need to finally secure the victory. The Mets did not score in the eighth or ninth inning to ensure that the IronPigs would do just that.
Both Garcia and Quiroz finished with über-impressive stat lines on Wednesday night. Garcia finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and five runs driven in. Quiroz finished the contest 2-for-5 with a double and three runs driven in.
In a game that featured 25 combined runs between the two teams, you would expect some crooked numbers. Every single member of the Syracuse Mets reached base at least once and each member of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs reached base at least twice. 13 different players between the two teams had at least one hit. Every single Syracuse Met scored at least one run and eight out of the nine IronPigs who started scored at least one run. Quiroz was the only player in the game who didn't score at least one run. Finally, the two teams combined to draw 23 walks. Syracuse managed to score its 11 runs on just six hits, aided by the 12 walks that they drew against IronPigs pitchers.
Syracuse continues its six-game road trip against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Thursday. The third game of the series is slated for a 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Mike Vasil is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mets, opposed by right-hander Shaun Anderson for the IronPigs.
Luke Voit. Punisher of baseballs.
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 27, 2023
That's FOUR straight games with a homer! pic.twitter.com/L3uUaKUuYi
This man does NOT get cheated.
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 27, 2023
Homer number 22 this season for Luke Ritter! pic.twitter.com/bawobGcf6B
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