Meneses homers but Mets fall to IronPigs, 18-8, in ten innings on Wednesday

Syracuse, NY – In a back-and-forth shootout, the Syracuse Mets fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 18-8, in ten innings in front of an electric crowd of 9,969 fans on Wednesday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium.

In a game with no shortage of offense, Syracuse (18-23) got it started early with a couple of runs in the bottom of the second inning. After Donovan Walton singled and Luis De Los Santos doubled, Gilberto Celestino hit a two-run double to put the Mets in front, 2-0.

Syracuse grew its lead in the third when Drew Gilbert and Jon Singleton each drew walks, and Joey Meneses smashed a three-run home run that gave the Mets a 5-0 lead.

Lehigh Valley (29-12) retaliated in the fourth with back-to-back solo homers by Gabriel Rincones Jr. and Buddy Kennedy to make it a 5-2 ballgame.

The Syracuse offense stayed hot in the bottom of the fourth with help from the bottom of the lineup. Jakson Reetz singled, and Yonny Hernandez doubled to put two runners in scoring position for Jared Young. The leadoff man, Young, drove in Reetz with an RBI single that made it 6-2. Soon after, Gilbert brought home Hernandez on a groundout and extended the Mets lead to 7-2.

In the fifth, the IronPigs loaded the bases for Rincones Jr., who hit a grand slam and cut the Syracuse lead down to one, 7-6.

The Mets quickly responded in the sixth with singles from Meneses and Walton to lead off the inning. The next batter, Luis De Los Santos, laid down a sacrifice bunt which moved the runners over, but a throwing error by the pitcher Koyo Aoyagi allowed Meneses to score and put Syracuse ahead, 8-6.

After a two-run home run by Rodolfo Castro tied the game at 8-8 in the top of the 8th inning, the Mets didn't respond and went into extra innings.

In the tenth, Lehigh Valley scored ten runs to take an 18-8 lead, a deficit that Syracuse did not come back from.

The Mets continue their six-game series against the IronPigs Thursday night with game three. Right-hander Nolan McLean is slated to start for Syracuse opposite right-hander Andrew Painter for Lehigh Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.