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Game Recap and Highlights: Late-inning miscues doom Syracuse in 9-5 loss Wednesday night

 

David Griffin pitched five innings of one-run baseball with five strikeouts on Wednesday night for Syracuse (Herm Card - Herm4444@gmail.com).


Box Score

Moosic, PA – The Syracuse Mets looked destined to win on Wednesday night, taking a multi-run lead into the seventh inning. However, the RailRiders furiously rallied back in the late innings, scoring eight combined runs in the seventh and eighth innings to eventually claim a 9-5 win over the Mets at PNC Field. The series is now tied at a game apiece after Syracuse won the series opener on Tuesday night.  

Syracuse (45-63, 12-22) manufactured a run to get on the board in the top of the first. Tim Locastro singled on the very first pitch of the game and promptly moved to second on a sharp single from Wyatt Young. Locastro advanced 90 further feet on a deep flyout from Ronny Mauricio and then scored on a curious play. With runners on first and third with one out, Luke Ritter hit a chopper to third base that appeared like it could produce an inning-ending double play. However, Andrés Chaparro booted the ball at the hot corner, allowing Locastro to score and make the game 1-0. 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (51-56, 17-16) answered right back and manufactured a run of their own in the bottom of the first to tie the game up at one. Oswald Peraza walked to start the inning, but it looked like he wouldn’t move any further when the next two batters recorded outs. Then, Chapparo walked to extend the inning, and Peraza dashed home on a two-out, two-strike single from Franchy Cordero, knotting the game up, 1-1. 

The game remained tied at one into the top of the fourth when the Mets plated a pair of runs to take the lead back. On the first pitch of the frame, Michael Perez crushed a solo shot over the right-field fence to give Syracuse a 2-1 lead. Coincidentally, the Mets also hit a home run on the first pitch of the top of the fourth inning in Tuesday night’s game. Ronny Mauricio hit the solo shot in Tuesday evening’s contest.  

Syracuse wasn’t done scoring in the top of fourth. After Perez’s solo homer, Nick Meyer walked, swiped second, moved to third on yet another RailRiders error, and scored on Wyatt Young’s sacrifice fly into center field. Young also drove in a run via a sacrifice fly in Tuesday night’s game. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre made three errors in the first four innings of Wednesday night’s game alone. The RailRiders now lead the International League with 97 errors made this season.  

The Mets tacked on in the fifth via a little two-out magic. First, with one out, Brandon McIlwain plopped a hit down in shallow right field that looked destined to be a single. However, McIlwain’s speed allowed him to dash into second base with a hustle double. Then, after a Perez strikeout, Meyer singled to right field to plate McIlwain and make it a 4-1 game.  

Gifted the run support, the starting pitcher for the Syracuse Mets shined. David Griffin allowed just one run in five solid innings of work, surrendering just three total hits while walking four and striking out five. Griffin retired nine batters in order at one point in his outing. The right-hander bounced back nicely after a tough outing against Worcester last Thursday when he allowed five home runs and nine earned runs in just over three innings of work. 

In Griffin’s final inning of work, the fifth inning, the RailRiders appeared poised to break the scoring seal. After the first two batters recorded outs, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre kept the inning alive via a Peraza walk and an Austin Wells double to put runners on second and third with two outs. Everson Periera walked to then load up the bases and put Griffin on the precipice of a disastrous bottom of the fifth. However, Griffin averted the crisis by inducing a Chapparo groundout to leave the bases loaded and complete his more-than-solid, five-inning start.  

It remained a 4-1 game into the bottom of the seventh, although the Mets had their chances to expand their lead. Syracuse left 11 men on base in the first seven innings, including two runners left on the basepaths in four different innings. This continued a disturbing trend for Syracuse, who has left at least eight runners on base in seven out of its last eight games. 

In the bottom of the seventh, all those runners left on base came back to doom the Mets. The RailRiders scored five times to take the lead for good at 6-4, sending the side to the plate in the nightmarish inning for Syracuse. It all started when Jake Lamb walked, Brandon Lockridge singled, and Peraza walked to load up the bases with nobody out. Then, Wells blooped a hit down the left-field line to score Lamb easily. As Lockridge raced around third and sprinted home, the throw from the left fielder Cortes hit Lockridge on the backside. The errant throw skittered down the first-base line, advancing Peraza to third and Wells to second. The next batter, Everson Periera, grounded a single up the middle that plated both runners and gave the RailRiders their first lead of the night at 5-4.  

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre got another run later on in the inning on a Syracuse mistake. After consecutive strikeouts, the Mets were on the verge of escaping the inning down just the one run. However, Pereira moved up to second on a balk and scored when Mauricio threw away a routine groundball to third base. It was the first error for Mauricio in his second straight game starting at third base this week.  

In the bottom of the eighth, the RailRiders put the game away with one fateful blow. Once again, after the first two batters recorded out, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre kept the inning alive via another Peraza walk (his fourth of the night) and another single from Wells (his third hit of the night). Then, Pereira launched a three-run blast well beyond the wall in right-center field to make it 9-4 and effectively end the game. The RailRiders scored eight of their nine runs in the game and had five out of their eight hits in the game in the final two turns they came to the plate.  

In the top of the ninth, the Mets received a late highlight when Carlos Cortes hit a solo home run to make it a 9-5 game. Cortes extended his on-base streak to 15 games with the solo shot. The former South Carolina Gamecock has put up quite the stats during that on-base streak. Cortes during that span is batting .404 (21-for-52) with three home runs and 14 runs driven in.  

Syracuse continues its six-game road trip this week at the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The third game of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. start time on Wednesday evening. Right-hander José Butto is expected to start on the mound for the Syracuse Mets.  


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