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| Jose Butto - Photo by Herm Card (herm4444@gmail.com) |
Press Release from the Syracuse Mets: Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets ran into a buzzsaw on Saturday night, as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored eight runs on 11 hits on their way to an 8-3 win at NBT Bank Stadium. The RailRiders have now won three straight games after dropping the series opener on Wednesday evening. They have also now evened up the season series between the two clubs at five games apiece.
Syracuse (1-3, 34-44) got off
to a brilliant start at the plate, as Rafael Ortega launched a solo home run
over the right-field fence to spur the Mets to a 1-0 lead leading off the
bottom of the first. Ortega has had an excellent beginning to his stint in the
New York Mets organization. Since joining Syracuse last week, Ortega has hits
in eight of the nine games he’s played in with Syracuse, including a pair of home
runs.
From there, the Mets offense
was rendered silent by brilliant Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (3-1, 37-41) starting
pitching. Mitch Spence did not allow another run after that first-inning homer
from Ortega, tossing seven innings of one-run ball on five total hits. By the
end of his outing, the righthander had racked up eight total strikeouts. Spence
also finished with a flourish, retiring the final nine batters he faced in
order.
While the RailRiders received
brilliant starting pitching, their offense utilized their favorite weapon to
provide plenty of offense. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hit three more home runs in
their win on Saturday night, beginning with a solo shot from Carlos Narvaez in
the second. Narvaez has hit home runs in back-to-back games.
In the third, a two-run home
run from Ben Rortvedt capped off a three-run frame for the RailRiders and
increased their lead to 4-1. Oswald Peraza had singled home Estevan Florial
earlier in the inning – Florial had doubled leading off the frame. Rortvedt has
been a walking nightmare at the plate against the Mets the past two nights. He
had the game-winning, RBI double in the top of the ninth inning of Friday
night’s win and finished Saturday night’s game 2-for-4 with a home run, a
single, a run scored and two runs driven in.
The three home runs for
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday night only just added to what has been a
powerful week and a powerful year at the plate. The RailRiders have now hit 11
home runs in four games this week, smacking at least two home runs in each of
the contests. They have also hit 132 home runs as a team this season, which
leads the International League.
While José Butto struggled
against that Scranton/Wilkes-Barre power surge early, he closed his start
strong. The right-hander tossed three scoreless frames to close out his night,
retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced in order. Butto allowed four
runs (all earned) on seven hits in six total hits with two walks and eight
strikeouts, a new season high. Each of those eight strikeouts were swinging
strikeouts.
In the late innings, the
RailRiders tacked on three pivotal runs to put the game away. In the seventh,
Peraza hit the third and final home run of the night for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre,
a solo shot to push the lead to 5-1. In the eighth, Narvaez brought home Andrés
Chapparo via a sacrifice fly (Chapparo had doubled leading off the inning and
moved to third on a groundout from Elijah Dunham) and then Jesús Bastidas
doubled home Franchy Cordero after he drew a two-out walk. Cordero made his
return to the RailRiders lineup on Saturday night after not having played since
June 15th.
In the ninth,
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored its eighth and final run of the night when Estevan
Florial tripled leading off the frame and later scored on an RBI groundout from
Chapparo. Seven of the 11 total hits in the game for the RailRiders were
extra-base hits.
Syracuse received some late
solace when Luke Voit crushed a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth and then
Jonathan Araúz hit a solo big fly of his own in the bottom of the ninth.
However, an old demon haunted the Mets again on Saturday night. Syracuse left
six runners on base in the first five innings of the game, including three
runners left in scoring position. They would go on to leave eight total runners
on base in the game. The Mets have left 30 total runners on base so far in the
series.
Syracuse is returning home all this week after spending the prior
two weeks on the road. The Mets continue a six-game series against the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A affiliate, New York Yankees) on Sunday
evening. The fifth game of the series is slated for a 6:35 first pitch. Denyi Reyes is slated to start for the Mets against Randy Vásquez for the RailRiders.
Rafael Ortega gets us on the board early with this solo 💣
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 1, 2023
SMets 1 SWBYanks 0 pic.twitter.com/EjF0ElU5Mn
Hey, let's see what Luke Voit is up to #SaltCity pic.twitter.com/45Q5r1bTUa
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 2, 2023
Rafael Ortega gets us on the board early with this solo 💣
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 1, 2023
SMets 1 SWBYanks 0 pic.twitter.com/EjF0ElU5Mn
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