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| Luke Voit connects for a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning on Monday night (James Farrance). |
Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets roared out to a big early lead but did not hold it late, falling to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders,10-8, on a perfect night for baseball at NBT Bank Stadium. The weather was sunny and 80 degrees and the fans showed up in droves. The crowd of more than 10,000 fans was the second-largest crowd of the season in Syracuse.
It took Syracuse (34-45, 1-4) exactly five batters to score the
first four runs of Monday night’s ballgame. Rafael Ortega and Ronny Mauricio
doubled to start the bottom of the first, plating one run in the blink of an
eye. After Mark Vientos grounded out to briefly quell the momentum, the next
two batters brought it right back. Luke Voit smacked a two-run blast followed
by a Jonathan Araúz solo shot that made it a 4-0 game in a flash. Voit has now
homered in back-to-back games, and Araúz has smacked home runs in three
straight games.
In the fourth, the Mets scored three more times on four more hits.
All the scoring fun came with two outs. After Jaylin Davis and Luke Ritter
grounded out, the Syracuse offensive machine cranked back into gear. Carlos Cortes and Nick Meyer both singled to keep the inning alive, followed by a
two-run double from Ortega to make it a 6-1 game and an RBI single from
Mauricio to push Syracuse’s lead to six, 7-1. Ortega, since joining the Mets
organization last week, has hits in nine of the 10 games he’s played in. He had
hits in each of the five games this week against the RailRiders, including
three multi-hit games.
Mike Vasil held Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (38-41, 4-1) in the first
three innings of the game, allowing just one run on two hits with two walks and
five strikeouts. However, the young, highly-touted right-hander threw 69
pitches in those three innings, prompting his early exit from the ballgame.
After that, the RailRiders began chipping away. First, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
scored twice in the fifth, starting with one-out walks to Max Burt and Estevan
Florial to put two runners on base. Oswald Peraza then doubled home Burt and
advanced Florial to third, who promptly came home on an RBI groundout from Ben
Rortvedt.
In the sixth, a two-out solo home run from Franchy Cordero slimmed
the deficit down to 7-4 entering the late innings. The seventh proved to be
fateful as the RailRiders plated three more runs to complete their six-run
comeback. After Burt’s strikeout to start the inning, it all went downhill for
the Mets. First, Florial singled followed by walks to Peraza and Rortvedt to load
up the bases with one out. Andrés Chapparo stepped to the plate in that spot
and put Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on the doorstep of a tie game, slicing a single
into left field to score Florial and Peraza.
After an Elijah Dunham popout had the Mets dreaming of escaping
the seventh inning still with the lead, it wasn’t to be. Rodolfo Durán hit a
groundball to third base that was stopped on a dive by Vientos, but his throw
to first base sailed up the line and trickled into right field, allowing
Rortvedt to dash home and tie the game, 7-7.
In the top of the eighth, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre capped off their
immense rally with three more runs to take the lead for good. Jamie Westbrook
started off the inning with a double, staying at the second base bag after a
groundout from Max Burt. Then, the floodgates opened again. Florial singled
home Westbrook to make it 8-7, Peraza walked to keep the momentum going,
Rortvedt doubled home Florial to make it a 9-7 game, and then Chapparo drove in
yet another run with an RBI single to make it a 10-7 game. Chapparo finished
the night 2-for-5 with three runs driven in. He has driven in 12 runs against
the Syracuse Mets this season.
The Mets entered the bottom of the ninth down 10-7, but still had
a little fight left in them. Facing right-handed reliever Michael Feliz,
Luke Voit struck out to start the inning. A single from Araúz followed by a
walk to Jaylin Davis put two on base with one out, followed by a single from
Luke Ritter to score Araúz and put two runners on base with one out in a 10-8
ballgame. Ritter finished the week with hits in each of the five games played,
including four different multi-hit games.
With the game hanging in the balance, the RailRiders went to the
bullpen and summoned Aaron McGarity to try and seal the deal. McGarity did just
that, getting Cortes to line out and then striking out Meyer to stand two on
base and hand Scranton/Wilkes-Barre their fourth win in five tries this week
against the Mets. Syracuse left ten runners on base in the game, including six
of those runners being left in scoring position.
Syracuse now hits the road all week for a six-game series against the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the Worcester Red Sox. The first game of the series is slated for a 6:45 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday evening, the Fourth of July. Right-hander Tylor Megill is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Kyle Barraclough for the WooSox.
Mike Vasil's getting better for the @SyracuseMets - 3 innings, 1 - run earned, 3 hits, 2 walks, 5 Ks (including 4 straight) - 69 pitches - 45 strikes #Mets #LGM #MetsTwitter @ernestdove @MiLBMetsMadness @bkfan09 @WexlerRules pic.twitter.com/PjYX180ERL
— Mets News and Links (@JohnFromAlbany) July 3, 2023
Luke Voit cannot be contained by sleeves
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 3, 2023
2-run 💣 / 3-0 SMets in the first pic.twitter.com/AcTONPlKpZ
Ronny Mauricio is heating up! His second hit and second RBI of the game make give us a 7-1 lead in the fourth! 🥳 pic.twitter.com/ux9ZRyWeyW
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 3, 2023
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