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Syracuse Falls Apart in Ninth, Loses 10-6 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Steamy Friday Night

June 30, 2023 - International League (IL)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Syracuse Mets' Carlos Cortes at bat
Syracuse Mets' Carlos Cortes at bat
(Syracuse Mets, Credit: Herm Card)

Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Mets were doomed by a disastrous ninth inning on Friday night, allowing four fateful runs to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre en route to a 10-6 loss on a humid and warm evening at NBT Bank Stadium. The RailRiders have now taken two out of the first three games in the week-long, six-game series. The temperature at first pitch on Friday night was 87 degrees, the warmest temperature at first pitch for any game played in Syracuse so far this season.

Early on, each team traded a pair of solo homers to make it a 1-1 game after two innings. After Jamie Westbrook homered in the top of the second to put Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (36-41, 2-1) in front, 1-0, Jonathan Araúz answered right back with a solo bomb of his own in the bottom of the second to knot the game up, 1-1. Araúz now has ten homers on the season, including three home runs in his last eight games.

The teeter-totter swung back to even again in the third inning as each team scored one run again to make it a 2-2 game after three frames. The RailRiders manufactured their run to briefly make it a 2-1 game. First, Florial walked to lead off the inning, but consecutive strikeouts had the Mets firmly in position to get out of the inning without any damage. Florial did steal second base in the midst of those back-to-back strikeouts from José Quintana, the rehabbing Big Leaguer on the mound for the Mets. Then, Florial pushed his luck again, taking off for third and inducing a poor throw from Michael Pérez to the bag. As the low throw skipped by Mark Vientos and skittered into left field, Florial hopped up and raced home on the throwing error to make it 2-1

Quintana then walked Andrés Chapparo, allowed a single to Rodolfo Durán and walked Jamie Westbrook to load up the bases and initiate his early exit from the mound. The longtime Major Leaguer worked two and two-thirds innings in his rehab assignment, allowing two runs (both earned) on four hits plus three walks and two strikeouts. Quintana threw 64 pitches in the outing, 33 of which were for strikes. The left-hander had allowed just one earned run in eight and two-thirds innings in his first three Minor League rehab appearances.

Reed Garrett came out of the bullpen and got an out after Quintana to leave the bases loaded, allowing the Mets to score a run and tie the game in the bottom of the third. First, Syracuse (34-43, 1-2) loaded up the bags with nobody out via a double from Luke Ritter plus walks to Pérez and Rafael Ortega. That set the table for the Mets, but they could only nibble instead of feasting. Ronny Mauricio grounded into a double play that did score Ritter to tie the game, but also produced two outs and put a runner on third base. The next batter, Vientos, grounded out to end the inning and leave Syracuse with a sour taste in its mouth.

In the fourth, the Mets expunged that taste with a pair of two-out runs to grab a 4-2 lead. After the first two batters were retired in order, Araúz walked to extend the inning and was rewarded with a race all the way home to tie the game when Cortes tripled off the wall in right-center field. Cortes celebrated his 26th birthday in style with the RBI triple and then sprinted home himself when Ritter looped a single into shallow left field to make it a 4-2 game just like that.

Given a 4-2 lead and with Joey Lucchesi following the Quintana start out of the bullpen, Syracuse fans were allowed to dream of a smooth ride to the finish line. However, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would find a way to get to the usually excellent Lucchesi. The 30-year-old left-hander entered Friday night's game with a 2.36 ERA in nine Triple-A outings, but the RailRiders scored once in the sixth, twice in the seventh, and one more time in the eighth to take a 6-4 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.

In the sixth, Michael Hermosillo hit a solo homer to slim the deficit to 4-3 for the RailRiders. It was the second home run already this week for Hermosillo. In the seventh, another walk plus a stolen base for Florial put a runner back in scoring position with one out after a Brandon Lockridge strikeout. Then, Carlos Narvaez ran into one, launching a go-ahead, two-run home run well beyond the left-field wall for his first home run of the week and a 5-4 lead for the road team.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre scored yet again in the eighth. Jamie Westbrook started off the inning with a single and then sprinted home on an RBI triple from Jesús Bastidas.

The lone run in the top of the eighth made it a 6-4 lead for the RailRiders entering the bottom of the eighth. elected to bring the über-reliable Greg Weissert out of the bullpen. He entered the evening with a 3.13 ERA in 22 Triple-A appearances this season, but the Mets found a way to get to him and tie the game. First, Luke Voit reached on a one-out error to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of DJ Stewart. The former Florida State Seminole was ready, crushing a pitch from Weissert over the right-field wall for a game-tying blast. The blow that knotted the game, 6-6, was Stewart's team-leading 16th home run of the season.

The game entered the ninth still knotted up at six, when the wheels fell off for Syracuse. After Lockridge grounded out to start the inning, Narvaez reached on an error and Chapparo singled to put two runners on base with one out. That necessitated Lucchesi's removal from the game, bringing Hunter Parsons out of the bullpen and into a high-leverage situation. The first man he faced, the pinch-hitting Ben Rortvedt, smoked a double to right-center field that scored Narvaez and moved Chapparo to third, making it a 7-6 game. Jamie Westbrook then singled to score Chapparo, Hermosillo lofted a sacrifice fly to scored Rortvedt, and Bastidas singled to score Westbrook (who had stolen second and third base after his RBI single) to cap off a four-run flurry for the RailRiders that clinched a 10-6 win. They scored the four runs on four hits in the ninth plus a costly error. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre sent eight men to the plate in their pivotal ninth inning surge.

Syracuse is home all this week after spending the prior two weeks on the road. The Mets continue a six-game series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Saturday evening. The fourth game of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch. Right-hander José Butto is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Mitch Spence for the RailRiders.

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Syracuse Mets' Carlos Cortes at bat
Syracuse Mets' Carlos Cortes at bat
(Herm Card)		   



International League Stories from June 30, 2023


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