Mets lead crumbles in eighth inning as RailRiders win, 6-5

Syracuse, NY - The Syracuse Mets held another late lead, but the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders used a five-run eighth inning to beat the Mets, 6-5, on Friday night at NBT Bank Stadium in front of an electric crown of 6,310. Mets starting pitcher Chris Mazza was stellar in the game, allowing just one run and three hits in seven innings pitched with six strikeouts in the game.

Syracuse (24-22) started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Grégor Blanco hit the fourth pitch of the inning over the right-center-field fence for a 1-0 lead. 

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (24-19) answered quickly in the top of the second when Ryan McBroom hit his ninth home run of the season, tying the game, 1-1.

The Mets took the lead again with a run in the forth. Dilson Herrera doubled to lead off, his third extra-base hit in his last two games. Herrera moved to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by David Thompson for a 2-1 Mets advantage. 

In the fifth, Arismendy Alcantara singled to right field to start the frame and Rubén Tejada singled with one out. Danny Espinosa followed with a double to right to bring home Alcantara for a 3-1 advantage. 

Syracuse added another run in the sixth. Braxton Lee was hit by a pitch, and Tim Tebow walked. After an Alcantara singled, Blanco drove in his second run of the game on a single to right for a 4-1 Mets edge. 

The RailRiders scored the game's decisive runs in the eighth. McBroom continued his big day in with his second home run of the day and tenth of the season. But that was just the start of the RailRiders lucrative eighth inning. After a fly out, Billy Burns singled, Trey Amburgey singled, and Mike Ford walked to load the bases. Joe Zanghi came out of the bullpen for his first appearance with Syracuse this season, and Breyvic Valera greeted him with a grand slam home run to give the RailRiders a 6-4 lead.  
The Mets scored a run in the bottom of the eighth on an Espinosa infield pop-up single that scored Alcantara from third base to trim the deficit to one, 6-5. That would be the final score though, as the Mets didn't score the rest of the way.
Syracuse and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre play again on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at NBT Banks Stadium.