Syracuse - Drury homers, but Mets fall to IronPigs in series opener, 7-3

 

A five-run top of the seventh inning for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs doomed the Syracuse Mets on Tuesday night in a 7-3 Mets loss to the IronPigs at NBT Bank Stadium in the first game of a six-game series.

Syracuse (2-11) struck first in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, Brandon Drury lined a pitched over the center-field wall for a solo home run that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Lehigh Valley (8-5) tied the game in the top of the fourth. C.J. Chatham, Darrick Hall, and Austin Listi all walked to load the bases with no outs. After Cornelius Randolph struck out, Edgar Cabral was hit by a hit, bringing home Chatham from third, knotting the game, 1-1.

The IronPigs took the lead in the fifth. Travis Jankowski led off with a double, tagged up and moved to third base on a Luke Williams fly out to right field, and Jankowski scored on a Mickey Moniak sacrifice fly out to center field, giving Lehigh Valley a 2-1 edge.

The Mets responded in the sixth inning. David Thompson doubled to begin the frame and moved to third base on a Quinn Brodey sacrifice bunt. After Drew Jackson walked, Nick Meyer grounded into a fielder’s choice that allowed Thompson to score from third to tie the game, 2-2. Jackson was out at second base on the play, but Meyer was safe at first. Cody Bohanek followed with a double to the right-center-field wall that scored Bohanek from first to give Syracuse a 3-2 advantage.

Lehigh Valley came right back in the seventh. Ryan Cordell, Williams, and Moniak all walked to begin the inning. Chatham then grounded a ball to third base, and a bad throw home allowed Cordell to score from third, tying the game back up, 3-3. A wild pitch scored Williams to make it a 4-3 ballgame, and then a one-out Listi single brought home Moniak and Chatham to give the IronPigs a three-run lead, 6-3. Then with two outs, Cabral doubled to score Listi and put Lehigh Valley in front 7-3.

Syracuse struggled to collect timely hits as the Mets went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.

The Mets and IronPigs meet again on Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.