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| Luke Ritter had a home run, a double, and four RBIs for Syracuse on Thursday night (Kylie Richelle). |
By Michael Tricarico, Syracuse Mets Broadcaster
Columbus, OH – The Syracuse Mets frustrating road trip continued on Thursday night, as the Mets lost a late lead in a 6-5 loss to the Columbus Clippers on a humid and stormy evening in Ohio's capital city. The game was called in the bottom of the eighth inning as torrential rains rolled through Huntington Park and soaked the playing field. With the loss, the Mets have now dropped seven of the first nine games on their two-week road trip.
For the third straight game, Syracuse (62-42, 16-14) jumped on Columbus (51-52, 19-10) early with the first runs of the ballgame. It was a pair of runs that got the Mets on the board in the top of the first inning, coming on one mighty swing from a familiar source. With Drew Gilbert on second and Brett Baty on first with nobody out, Luke Ritter smashed a double down the left-field line that scored both men and put Syracuse in front, 2-0, three batters into the game. Ritter hit homers in each of the first two games this week and he entered the evening leading the International League with 73 runs driven in so far this season.
True to form, the Clippers bounced right back in the bottom of the second and scored three times to take their first lead of the night. Dom Hamel's wildness allowed Columbus to kickstart their rally in the second as three straight walks to start the inning loaded up the bases with nobody out. A sacrifice fly from Christian Cairo scored one run and moved runners to first and third with one, but a Hamel strikeout had the Mets on the verge of escaping the inning with the lead still in their hands. It wasn't to be – a two-out, RBI single from Raynel Delgado tied the game at two, and that was immediately followed by another RBI single from Will Brennen to surge the Clippers out to a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the third, Columbus tacked on another run as once against the Mets struggled to close out an inning. With Kyle Manzardo on first and two outs, Estevan Florial singled on a two-strike pitch to move Manzardo to third and extend the inning. Then, Florial attempted a steal of second on a 1-2 pitch and the throw from the catcher, Matt O'Neill, sailed into center field. That allowed Manzardo to score easily from third and boost the lead for the Clippers up to 4-2.
In the top of the fifth, the Mets crept a little closer. A one-out double from Matt O'Neill followed a Gilbert walk put runners on first and second, bringing Baty to the plate. The sweet-swinging lefty took advantage, smacking a double down the left-field line to score O'Neill, move Gilbert to third and make it a 4-3 game with still one out in the inning. After a Ritter strikeout and a Jackie Bradley, Jr. walk loaded up the bases with two outs, Mike Brosseau strode to the plate with the chance to put the Mets back in front. It wasn't to be – he grounded out to shortstop, keeping the Clippers in front 4-3 as Syracuse left the bases loaded.
After they left two more runners on base in the top of the sixth, the Mets finally broke through and grabbed the lead in the top of the seventh. It was that man again who put them in front – Luke Ritter pounded a go-ahead, two-run homer over the right-field wall to propel Syracuse back in front by a 5-4 score. Ritter has been remarkable this week, smacking home runs in each of the first three games and racking up five total extra-base hits. The former Wichita State Shocker has also driven in eight runs already this week.
The lead didn't even last a batter, as the Clippers yet again mounted a rally to grab the lead back. The leadoff man in the bottom of the seventh, Raynel Delgado, slugged a game-tying home run over the left-field wall to tie the game at five in the blink of an eye. That was immediately followed by back-to-back singles from Will Brennan and Juan Brito plus a walk to Manzardo to load up the bases, and a sacrifice fly from George Valera plated Brennan and gave the Clippers the lead for good, 6-5.
The Mets didn't score in the top of the eighth and then the rains rolled through, a classic Midwest summer thunderstorm that drenched the playing field and forced the game to be called with the Clippers declared the 6-5 winners.
Syracuse was haunted yet again by missed opportunities, as the Mets left nine runners on base in the game and multiple runners on base in three different innings. Syracuse has left at least six runners on base in each of the first three games this week at Columbus.
The Syracuse Mets are in the midst of a two-week road trip that continues with six games at the Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, the Columbus Clippers, this entire week. The series continues on Friday with a 7:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch.
There isn't a man in the International League that has driven in more runs than Luke Ritter 👊 pic.twitter.com/CgJvXfYI1H
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 1, 2024
This swing from Brett 😍 pic.twitter.com/5qIDhtkD14
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 2, 2024
LUKE RITTER IS NOT HUMAN pic.twitter.com/Qm9RBekRxk
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 2, 2024
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