Sports stats



IL Syracuse Mets

Syracuse Loses Friday Night Slugfest to Lehigh Valley, 9-6

June 9, 2023 - International League (IL)
Syracuse Mets News Release


Syracuse Mets' Danny Mendick at bat
Syracuse Mets' Danny Mendick at bat
(Syracuse Mets, Credit: Herm Card)

Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Mets fell a little short in a Friday night barnburner against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Triple-A Philadelphia Phillies), dropping a 9-6 decision at NBT Bank Stadium. The two teams combined for 15 runs and 19 hits in the game, one night after scoring just seven combined runs on 11 combined hits. The five-game series is now tied at one game apiece.

Early on, each team took turns scoring runs. In the bottom of the first, Danny Mendick got the scoring started for Syracuse (23-36) when he launched a solo home run over the left-field fence for a 1-0 Mets lead. Mendick has now homered in each of the first two games of this week's series.

Lehigh Valley (30-28) then responded and briefly took the lead with single runs in the second and third innings. In the second, Jim Haley singled, moved to second on a Jordan Qsar walk, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a John Hicks sacrifice fly. In the top of the third, the IronPigs grabbed a 2-1 lead when Weston Wilson smacked a solo home run to left field.

In the bottom of the third, the Mets tied it right back up at two when Mendick walked to start the frame, moved to second on a Ronny Mauricio groundout, and scored on an RBI single from Tyler White to knot the game up, 2-2. White may be the early stages of his Syracuse Mets career, but he's already made an impression. In his first seven games, White has eight hits including the two he had on Friday night.

From there, the game tilted firmly in favor of Lehigh Valley. The road team scored the next seven runs to surge to a 9-2 lead, powered by two pivotal long balls. In the top of the fifth, Darick Hall launched a three-run homer with two outs in the inning to make it a 5-2 edge for the IronPigs.

In the sixth, after Haley had singled and Qsar had walked to put two runners on base with nobody out, Hicks crushed another three-run shot over the fence to make it an 8-2 game in the blink of an eye. The IronPigs added yet another run later in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Hall that drove in Jake Cave, completing a four-run flurry and a 9-2 lead entering the bottom of the sixth.

From there, the Mets began slimming the deficit. In the bottom of the sixth, Syracuse broke out their own big bats, smacking back-to-back homers to get right back in the ballgame. First, after Jaylin Davis walked starting the inning, Jonathan Araúz lined a shot over the right-field wall for a two-run blast to make it a 9-4 game. The very next batter, Carlos Cortes, promptly stepped to the plate and hit a solo homer of his own to turn it into a 9-5 game. The consecutive home runs marked the fifth time this season the Mets have hit back-to-back homers in a game. They have done the feat twice this season against Lehigh Valley.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Mets got closer again with another run to make it a 9-6 game. With one out, Araúz tripled off the to right-center field to get the rally started. After a Carlos Cortes walk, Nick Meyer came to the plate and lofted a ball deep enough into right field for a sac fly to plate Araúz and make it four unanswered runs for the Mets and a 9-6 ballgame. Meyer was the fifth different Syracuse player to drive in at least one run in the game.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets looked like they may have a little magic on their side when Mendick reached on an error to start the inning. However, from there, the potential rally fizzled out when the next three batters went down in order to complete the 9-6 defeat for the Mets. Syracuse is now 9-23 in its last 32 games with 18 of those 23 losses coming by four runs or less.

Syracuse is home all week hosting the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at NBT Bank Stadium. Games three and four of the five-game series are set for Saturday. The first game of the doubleheader is slated to begin at 4:05 p.m. José Butto is scheduled to pitch the first half of the doubleheader for the Mets with Alex Valverde set to go in the second game.

Check out the Syracuse Mets Statistics




Images from this story

Syracuse Mets' Danny Mendick at bat
Syracuse Mets' Danny Mendick at bat
(Herm Card)		   



International League Stories from June 9, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central