Cuse Game Recap - Syracuse drops Friday night affair to Lehigh Valley, 6-2

 

Nick Meyer hit a home run right after Daniel Palka as Syracuse hit back-to-back homers on Friday night (Herm Card).

Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets hit back-to-back home runs but those weren’t enough in a 6-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Friday night. The IronPigs racked up 15 strikeouts en route to a wire-to-wire victory over the Mets in front of an electric crowd of 6,009 at NBT Bank Stadium.   

  

Once again, Lehigh Valley (16-12) got the scoring started early, plating a run in the top of the third. With two outs and Dalton Guthrie on first base, Nick Maton pounded a double into right field that allowed Guthrie to sprint home all the way from first base to give Lehigh Valley a 1-0 lead. Maton had an excellent night at the plate, reaching base three times with two doubles to his name.   

  

The IronPigs added to their lead with one run in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth to push their cushion to five runs. Drew Maggi had an RBI single that brought home the run in the fifth for a 2-0 edge.  

 

In the sixth, with runners on first and second and one out, Will Toffey collected an RBI with a single that gave the IronPigs a 3-0 advantage. Two batters later, with two outs, a two-run single by Austin Wynns in the sixth made it a 5-0 game. Three of the four runs scored between the fifth and sixth innings came with two outs.   

  

Syracuse (9-18) did have a brief jolt of life at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. First, Daniel Palka lofted a fly ball just over the right-field fence for a solo home run, his second in as many games to trim the deficit to 5-1. Then, Nick Meyer smacked the first pitch he saw off of the roof of the 315 Bullpen Bar beyond the left-field fence, making it a 5-2 game. It looked like the Mets were distanced for more in the bottom of the seventh. Patrick Mazeika blooped a single into shallow center field to make it three straight hits for Syracuse, but the fun would end there. Khalil Lee lined out to center field, and Carlos Cortes lined out to first base to end the inning and the scoring on the evening for the Mets.  

  

Lehigh Valley added insurance in the eighth via another two-out RBI single from Austin Wynns to give the ‘Pigs a 6-2 lead. The IronPigs catcher finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with two singles, a walk, and three RBIs. Five of the six runs that Lehigh Valley scored in the win came with two outs.  

  

Coupling timely hitting with outstanding pitching proved to be the winning formula for Lehigh Valley on Friday night. The IronPigs were 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position, meanwhile the pitching staff retired 18 Syracuse batters in a row at one point and pitched six one-two-three innings. 

  

Syracuse and Lehigh Valley continue their six-game series with the penultimate game on Saturday night at NBT Bank. Left-hander Mike Montgomery is slated to start for the Mets, opposite left-hander Cristopher Sanchez for the IronPigs. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.