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Charlotte Knots up Series with 8-7 Win over Syracuse on Wednesday Night

August 17, 2022 - International League (IL)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Charlotte, NC - The Syracuse Mets battled back valiantly but ultimately lost, 8-7, to the Charlotte Knights on Wednesday night at Truist Field. The six-game series is now all tied up at one game apiece.

For the second straight night, Charlotte (44-69) got on the board first. In the bottom of the first, the home team got the scoring started when Mark Payton hit a solo blast to right field to make it 1-0 in favor of the Knights. That lead wouldn't last long, however.

Syracuse (49-64) responded in the top of the third. Dominic Smith hit a solo shot himself that tied the game right back up, 1-1. It was the third big fly of the season for Smith in 22 games in Triple-A.

The game wouldn't remain at 1-1 for long as the Knights went ahead with three pivotal runs in the bottom half of the third inning. A walk by Payton and single from Yolbert Sánchez put runners on first and second with nobody out, but a groundball from Jake Burger that turned into a double play had the Mets dreaming of escaping the inning unscathed. However, it wasn't meant to be, as extra-base power from Charlotte would doom Syracuse. A double from Carlos Pérez scored Payton for a 2-1 edge, followed by a two-run homer from Adam Haseley that made it 4-1 Knights in a flash. The home team would never trail in the game from that point onward.

The Mets got a brief blast of momentum in the top of the fifth inning when Khalil Lee unloaded on the first pitch of the frame to trim the deficit to two, 4-2. Lee's solo blast sailed clear out of the ballpark, traveling an estimated 453 feet in the air and 113 miles per hour off of the bat. Remarkably, this is not the first home run of the season for the Mets to actually fully leave the stadium. Francisco Álvarez hit a solo shot earlier this month at Lehigh Valley that cleared the left-field wall and kept on flying straight over everything and out of the ballpark.

In the bottom of the sixth, Charlotte scored three more times to seemingly put the game out of reach. Consecutive one-out singles from Micker Adolfo and Craig Dedelow put two runners on base with one out, followed by yet another single from Zach Remillard that loaded up the bases with one out. Nick Ciuffo then came to the plate and did damage, providing a fourth-straight single that scored Adolfo and Dedelow to give the Knights a 6-2 advantage. The scoring in the inning wasn't done, however. Sanchez had an RBI groundout later in the frame to make it 7-2 and seemingly put the game out of reach.

It remained 7-2 until the top of the eighth inning when Syracuse dramatically rallied all the way back to tie the game at seven. Smith and Mark Vientos started the inning with singles, followed by a ground-rule double from Daniel Palka that plated Smith and moved Vientos up to third with nobody out, pulling the Mets within 4, 7-3. After a Gosuke Katoh strikeout, Patrick Mazeika stepped to the plate and slashed a single into right field, scoring Vientos and Smith and making it a 7-5 game all of a sudden.

The Mets still had a couple of more runs left in their back pocket in the eighth inning, With Mazeika on first and one out, he was replaced by Terrance Gore for more speed on the basepaths. Gore promptly moved up to second when Lee reached first on catcher's interference. A double steal then moved each runner up ninety feet, followed by a JT Riddle sacrifice fly that scored Gore and put Lee on third with two outs as the Mets trailed by just one, 7-6. Then, a wild pitch allowed Lee to prance all the way home and tie the game up, 7-7.

However, that was to be the last bit of good news on the night for the Mets. Payton hit his second home run of the night and 16th of the season in the bottom of the eighth, a solo blast that made it 8-7 Knights and vaulted Charlotte into the lead for good. The two teams combined for five home runs on the night and have already hit eight home runs combined in the first two games of the series.

Syracuse continues its six-game series against Charlotte with the third game of the series on Thursday night. Right-hander José Butto is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mets opposite right-hander Jason Bilous for the Knights. First pitch is slated for 7:04 p.m.

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International League Stories from August 17, 2022


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