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Ronny Mauricio Drills Walk-off Home Run as Syracuse Rallies Back for 8-7 Win Over Buffalo on Saturday Night

July 22, 2023 - International League (IL)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Syracuse Mets' Ronny Mauricio at bat
Syracuse Mets' Ronny Mauricio at bat
(Syracuse Mets, Credit: Rick Nelson)

Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Mets would not be denied on Saturday night as Ronny Mauricio crushed a walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Syracuse an 8-7 win over the Buffalo Bisons on a warm Saturday night at NBT Bank Stadium. The walk-off was the fifth walk-off win of the season for the Mets and Syracuse's third walk-off win in their last seven games.

Syracuse (39-54, 6-13) trailed, 7-4, going to the bottom of the ninth, but the Mets rallied. Carlos Cortes led off with a walk, and José Peraza doubled to put runners at second and third base. Michael Perez followed with a line-drive double down the right-field line that scored Cortes and Peraza to slash the deficit to one, 7-6. Jonathan Araúz then came to the plate as a pinch hitter but struck out, and Rafael Ortega popped out for the first two outs of the frame. That brought Mauricio to the plate, and the 22-year-old came up with his magic moment. Mauricio crushed a 3-1 pitch over the wall in right-center field for a walk-off, two-run home run that travelled 440 feet to give the Mets an 8-7 win.

Buffalo (45-49, 11-8) got off to yet another hot start at the plate, receiving a pair of solo home runs from Nathan Lukes and Spencer Horwitz to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. The Bisons have scored first in each of the five games played so far this week. Buffalo has also scored in the first inning in four of those five games.

The Mets got a run back in the bottom of the third when Luke Voit was hit by a pitch, and Luke Ritter walked with one out, followed by a groundball single from Carlos Cortes into center field that plated Voit from second base to make it a 2-1 ballgame. However, Ritter was thrown out trying to take third base on the play and that eliminated the momentum in the inning for the Mets. The next batter, José Peraza, flied out to end the frame with just the one run across for Syracuse.

In the top of the fifth, Buffalo pounced early yet again when Lukes doubled, Ernie Clement singled, and Horwitz doubled to plate two more runs and make it a 4-1 game. After a flyout, a strikeout, and a walk put two runners on base with two outs, Mike Vasil was lifted from the game for Tyler Thomas. In his Syracuse Mets debut, Thomas fanned Tanner Morris to escape the inning without further trouble. Vasil's final line was four and two-thirds innings of four-run ball on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

In the bottom of the fifth, Syracuse bounced back and scored two runs of their own to slim the deficit to one, 4-3. First, Luke Voit crushed a solo homer leading off the frame to make it a 4-2 game. Abraham Almonte then walked, moved to third on a Luke Ritter single, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Carlos Cortes to make it a 4-3 game.

From there, however, the Mets wouldn't score again in the inning, eventually leaving two runners on base. That would extend what would prove to be a very frustrating trend on the evening. Syracuse left multiple runners on base in four different innings on Saturday night, including leaving the bases loaded two different times. The Mets left at least one runner on base in all but one of the first eight innings in the game.

In the top of the sixth, Buffalo scored three more times to make it a 7-3 game. A two-run single from Horwitz highlighted the scoring output in the frame. The left-handed hitter finished the game 4-for-5 with a single, two doubles, a home run, and five runs driven in. Remarkably, it's the second different game with four or more hits this week for Horwitz. He had a five-hit game on Tuesday night.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets got a run back. With the runners at first and third with one out, Almonte grounded into a fielder's choice that brought home a run to cut the deficit to three, 7-4. The score remained there until Syracuse's four-run bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback.

Syracuse wraps up its nine-game homestand at NBT Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon with the final game of a six-game series against the Buffalo Bisons. First pitch is slated for 1:05 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Tyler Megill scheduled to start for the Mets against right-hander Wes Parsons for the Bisons.

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Syracuse Mets' Ronny Mauricio at bat
Syracuse Mets' Ronny Mauricio at bat
(Rick Nelson)		   



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