IL Syracuse Mets

Syracuse Drops Doubleheader to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday

Published on June 10, 2022 under International League (IL)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Travis Blankenhorn at bat for the Syracuse Mets
Travis Blankenhorn at bat for the Syracuse Mets
(Syracuse Mets, Credit: Herm Card)

Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Mets lost both halves of a doubleheader to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Friday night, falling in game one, 3-0, and in the second game, 6-4. The RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, have now won three of the first five games in the seven-game series.

Game one of the doubleheader was marked by excellent pitching for both sides early on. Mets starting pitcher Nate Fisher held the RailRiders off the board in the game's initial stages, tossing a three-inning scoreless start. It took some work to make it that way, however. Fisher loaded up the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third as Ryan LaMarre and Armando Alvarez singled followed by a walk for Miguel Andujar. After that, Fisher commenced his magic trick. First, Oswald Peraza lined into a double play out to shortstop, a hard-hit drive that allowed the Mets to double off Alvarez at second base. That made it runners on first and third with two outs, and Fisher officially got out of the mess by inducing a Greg Bird popout to end the frame.

The game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth, when Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (22-36) finally put some runs on the board. Ender Inciarte singled leading off the inning, moving up to second on a groundout by LaMarre. Armando Alvarez then drove home Inciarte by punching a groundball through the right side of the infield and into right field, making it a 1-0 game. After an Andujar single made it two on and one out, Oswald Peraza struck out to give Syracuse hope of escaping the inning somewhat unscathed. It wasn't meant to be, as Greg Bird lined a sharp double into the gap in right-center field that scored Alvarez and Andujar to make it 3-0 RailRiders.

From there, RailRiders starter Jhony Brito stole the show. The right-hander put in quite the performance on the mound, tossing six and one-third scoreless innings with just four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. Brito has been outstanding in all of his minor league stops this season. The 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic began the season with Double-A Somerset, posting a 2.36 ERA in 42 innings with 38 strikeouts. In two Triple-A starts, Brito has now gone a combined 11 and one-third innings of one-run ball.

Syracuse (20-37) did make it interesting in the bottom of the seventh, mounting a brief rally in the game's final inning. JT Riddle walked, and Travis Blankenhorn singled starting the frame, bringing the potential tying run to the plate in the form of Luke Ritter. Ritter lined out hard to right field, causing the removal of Brito with one out in the seventh inning. The RailRiders brought in their closer, Greg Weissert, and he shut the door. The right-hander struck out the next two batters in order to earn his fifth save of the season and the second straight win for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

In game two of the doubleheader, the RailRiders pulled away early, scoring four runs on five hits in the first inning as their first four batters all reached and scored. Estevan Florial singled to begin the game and then scored on an RBI double from Tim Locastro. Locastro promptly scored on a double from Derek Dietrich, and then Dietrich scored on a two-run home run from Jose Peraza to give Scranton/Wilkes-Barre a 4-0 lead.

The RailRiders tacked on insurance runs in the third and sixth innings. Ronald Guzmán swatted a solo home run leading off the top of the third, and Derek Dietrich provided an RBI via a sacrifice fly in the sixth to take a 6-0 advantage. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has brought the thunder at the plate during their three-game win streak, scoring a combined 21 runs on 34 hits in 23 innings. The RailRiders scored just two runs on nine hits in the first two games of this week's series.

The Mets, to their credit, went down swinging in the second game of the doubleheader. Syracuse scored twice in the sixth when Daniel Palka launched a two-run shot over the fence in right-center field. Palka has homered twice in the series and leads the team with 12 homers this season.

In the seventh, the last inning in a doubleheader in the minor leagues, the Mets made some noise again. Syracuse loaded the bases with one out as Johneshwy Fargas walked, and both Cody Bohanek and Matt Rudick were plunked by pitches. Travis Blankenhorn then plated Fargas and Bohanek with a two-run single into center field. Blankenhorn has been rolling at the plate over nearly the past month, reaching base in 19 of his last 22 games, batting .342 (26-for-76) during that time with an on-base percentage near .400. That put runners on first and third with one out, as the Mets were dreaming of a late-game winner. However, it wasn't to be. Daniel Palka struck out and JT Riddle flew out, ensuring the RailRiders would survive and win their third straight game, this one by a 6-4 margin.

Syracuse has had some heartbreakers recently. Four of the Mets' last six losses have been by two runs or less. Three of those losses were by just one run at the Worcester Red Sox last week.

Syracuse continues a stretch of seven games in five days against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, on Saturday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. Connor Grey is scheduled to make the start for the Mets, opposed by Ken Waldichuk for the RailRiders.

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Images from this story

Travis Blankenhorn at bat for the Syracuse Mets
Travis Blankenhorn at bat for the Syracuse Mets
(Herm Card)		   



International League Stories from June 10, 2022


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