IronPigs Fall Twice to Mets on Friday Night 

Allentown, Pennsylvania (July 28, 2023) – The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (50-47, 14-10) succumbed twice to the Syracuse Mets (42-56, 9-15) on Friday night, losing 9-6 in the resumption of Thursday’s suspended game and then falling 6-3 in seven innings in the regularly scheduled game at Coca-Cola Park.

*Game One *

The first game on the docket on Friday was the resumption of Thursday night’s suspended game, which was paused due to rain with the game tied at 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning.

The IronPigs had grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to an RBI single in the second from Esteban Quiroz and then a sacrifice fly from Weston Wilson in the third.

Syracuse rallied back as Luke Voit homered to open the fourth and then a Carlos Cortes RBI single later in the inning tied the game at 2-2.

Once the game resumed with the bases loaded for the Mets, they plated two runs as Jonathan Arauz worked a bases loaded walk and Luke Ritter was hit by a pitch to force in another.

Syracuse scored three more in the sixth on an Abraham Almonte three-run homer, but the IronPigs had an answer in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Dustin Peterson singled home a run and Scott Kingery followed with an RBI double. After a walk to Simon Muzziotti, Weston Wilson singled home a run and then pulled off a double steal with Muzziotti, with Muzziotti swiping home, to make it a 7-6 game.

That was as close the IronPigs got however, as Syracuse scored two more in the eighth thanks to an Almonte sacrifice fly and a Nick Meyer RBI single.

Nate Lavender (3-2) earned the win for the Mets, working 2.2 scoreless innings in relief, allowing just three hits while striking out five.

Braden Zarbnisky (0-1) was tagged with the loss for the IronPigs, as he failed to record an out while allowing two runs on two hits and a walk.

Dennis Santana (S, 5) converted the save for the Mets, getting the final two outs of the game, including a strikeout.

Game Two

In the regularly scheduled game that was shrunk down to seven innings, it took until the fourth for the first runs of the game. Voit started the scoring with a bang as he bashed a two-run homer to put Syracuse up 2-1.

Jim Haley cut the deficit in half for the IronPigs in the bottom of the fifth, as he swatted a solo homer, his seventh of the season, to make it 2-1.

Syracuse responded in kind, plating two in the top of the sixth. Tomas Nido produced a two-out RBI single before an error allowed a run to score to make it 4-1.

Again though, the IronPigs fought back. In the last of the sixth, Cal Stevenson worked a bases loaded walk to force home a run before a throwing error after a caught pop-up allowed another run to score to get the IronPigs to within 4-3.

Almonte put the game to bed for the Mets in the top of the seventh. He blasted a two-run homer to give Syracuse some breathing room as they would go on to win by the final of 6-3.

John Curtiss (1-2) collected the win in relief for the Mets. Curtiss allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk, striking out four in 1.1 innings.

Bailey Falter (2-1) suffered the loss for the IronPigs, allowing two runs in four innings on three hits and three walks, striking out five.

Sean Reid-Foley (S, 1) authored a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up the save for the Mets, striking out one.

The IronPigs and Mets continue their series on Saturday, July 29, with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m.

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The IronPigs are presented by CapitalBlueCross.

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