Resilient effort leads Syracuse to fourth straight win at Lehigh Valley, 8-3, on Friday night

Allentown, PA – The Syracuse Mets rallied back multiple times on Friday night to down the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 8-3, on a rainy night at Coca-Cola Park. The game was delayed by more than an hour at the start due to the poor weather conditions in Allentown. With the win, Syracuse has won four consecutive games for the second time this season.

After the first inning and a half of the game went scoreless, Lehigh Valley (12-22) got on the board in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. Simon Muzziotti led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a fielder’s choice, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Scott Kingery. Kingery has had a very productive last 24 hours, smacking two home runs in Thursday night’s game.

In the top of the third, Syracuse (21-14) bounced right back with two runs to grab their first lead of the night at 2-1. After a Mike Brosseau strikeout to start the inning, walks to Yolmer Sánchez and Matt O’Neill plus an infield single for Luisangel Acuña loaded up the bases with one out. A bases-loaded walk to Ben Gamel tied up the game, 1-1. Then a Mark Vientos fielder’s choice groundout plated O’Neill and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.

The lead didn’t last as the IronPigs regained their lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third with two outs from Weston Wilson that made it a 3-2 game. Wilson needed that swing in the worst way, as he entered Friday night’s game with a batting average barely above .150. Wilson’s struggles are shocking this season as set an IronPigs’ record for home runs in a season during the 2023 season and he made his Big League debut for the Phillies last season, homering in his first-ever Major League plate appearance.

Syracuse starter Justin Jarvis got out of the inning from there and pitched a clean fourth, finishing his four innings of work with three runs allowed (all earned) on four hits plus one walk and four strikeouts. Jarvis has now made two starts with Syracuse this season after beginning the 2024 campaign with Double-A Binghamton. On the other side, Lehigh Valley received one of their best starts of the season from their top pitching prospect. Mick Abel, a highly-talented 22-year-old from Portland, Oregon, allowed just two runs on four hits in five and two-thirds innings. Abel did walk five batters, but he also struck out four and left six runners on base to avert total disaster.

It remained a 3-2 game in favor of Lehigh Valley up until the top of the seventh inning when the Syracuse offense revved back into gear. The Mets took the lead with two runs in the top of the seventh with a double for O’Neill and a single for Acuña putting runners on first and third with nobody out to start the inning, followed by a sacrifice fly for a game-tying RBI for Ben Gamel that plated O’Neill and made it a 3-3 ballgame. Vientos then followed with an RBI double that scored Acuña all the way from first, handing the Mets a 4-3 lead that they would not relinquish.

Syracuse didn’t stop scoring there, scoring twice in the eighth and twice more in the ninth to fully put the game out of reach. In the eighth, a home run from Trayce Thompson (his second of the week) plus an RBI double from Acuña made it a 6-3 game. Acuña finished the night 3-for-5, his second three-hit game at the Triple-A level this season.

In the ninth, a pair of bases-loaded walks from Brosseau and Sánchez turned it into an 8-3 contest. Once again, it was a remarkably balance night at the office for the Syracuse offense. Each of the Mets nine starters reached base at least once, six of them had hits, and six of them scored runs.

While the offense roared in front, the bullpen slammed the door shut yet again. Yacksel Ríos, Eric Orze, Grant Hartwig, and Dedniel Núñez worked the final five innings of the game, not allowing a run and surrendering just two hits and three walks while racking up seven strikeouts. The Mets remain perfect (12-0) this season when leading a game after seven innings, an immense credit to their bullpen. Syracuse’s bullpen has allowed five earned runs in 16 innings of work this week in Allentown, recording 18 strikeouts in the process.

Syracuse is on the road for two long weeks away from NBT Bank Stadium. The two-week journey continues at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs this week. First pitch of the fifth game of the series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. on Saturday. Right-hander Dom Hamel is slated to start for the Mets opposed by right-hander David Buchanan for the IronPigs.