Syracuse outlasts Lehigh Valley for 5-4 win on warm Wednesday night in Allentown

Allentown, PA – The Syracuse Mets won for the second straight day at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, staving off multiple IronPigs’ comeback attempts in a 5-4 win on an 81-degree early May evening at Coca-Cola Park. With the win, Syracuse improves to a high-water mark of five games over .500 for the first time this season.

For the second straight day, Syracuse (19-14) scored first to jump in front. The Mets’ run in the top of the first inning was a credit to Luisangel Acuña’s speed. The 22-year-old speedster led off the game with a double that smacked off the top of the high right-field wall. Then, with two outs and Rylan Bannon at the plate, Acuña took off for third on a steal attempt. A poor throw from Lehigh Valley’s starting pitcher Michael Mercado to third base skittered down the left-field line, allowing Acuña to dash home with the game’s first run for a 1-0 lead.

Lehigh Valley (12-20) tied it up in the bottom of third by manufacturing a run of their own. Scott Kingery walked to start the inning, moved to second on a balk, and scored on a one-out RBI single from Cody Roberts. Lehigh Valley then fell into an offensive funk as Joey Lucchesi held them at bay. The IronPigs scored just once in the first six innings. Lucchesi only allowed four hits in the first six frames he worked. The lefty from California entered his start on Wednesday with a miniscule 2.25 ERA on the season.

In the top of the fifth, the Mets nearly took the lead back. José Iglesias singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on a productive groundout from Trayce Thompson. Then, Carlos Cortes smacked a sharp single into right field that Iglesias tried to score on. However, Simon Muzziotti threw a one-hop strike to home plate that was on time and on the money, nabbing Iglesias easily for the second out of the frame.

The IronPigs wiggled out of the inning from there, completing another fine pitching line for their starter Michael Mercado. The right-hander tossed five innings of three-hit ball, allowing one unearned run with one walk and five strikeouts. Wednesday night’s outing continued an absurdly good run to start the season for Mercado. In eight outings, The 25-year-old has allowed one earned run in 20 and two-thirds innings.

In the top of the sixth, the Mets finally did grab the lead back. Mercado left the game and was replaced by Beau Burrows, who struggled mightily in his relief outing. Burrows threw ten consecutive balls to start the inning, putting Acuña on second base and Gamel on first via walks. Mark Vientos came to plate with those two ducks on the pond and did damage yet again, punching a single back up the middle and into center field at 106 miles per hour off the bat. That scored Acuña easily from second base and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. Then, back-to-back walks to Bannon and Luke Ritter pushed Gamel across home plate and made it a 3-1 game. Weirdly, Ritter now has three separate bases-loaded walks combined between the first two games of the series.

However, the Mets left a lot on the table in that sixth inning. Syracuse still had the bases loaded and nobody out but a double play and a flyout in rapid succession didn’t bring another run home and kept the game at 3-1.

The IronPigs took advantage in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game quickly off of Lucchesi. The California native did get an out in the seventh to make it six and one-third innings pitched, but a double, a single, and a triple plated two runs for Lehigh Valley and made it a 3-3 game entering the eighth inning. The final line for Lucchesi was three runs allowed, all earned, on seven hits in six and one-third innings with one walk and three strikeouts. It was the first time all season that Lucchesi allowed more than two earned runs in any start.

The Mets bounced right back in the top of the eighth, scoring twice to grab a 5-3 lead. Bannon led off the inning with a single and promptly moved to second base on a groundout. An Iglesias single then moved Bannon to third, setting the stage for a curious set of circumstances. Thompson came to the plate and chopped a groundball to third base. The IronPigs’ third baseman, Weston Wilson, elected to come home on the play and his throw beat Bannon to home plate. However, the catcher Roberts dropped the throw, allowing Bannon to score and hand the Mets the lead back, 4-3. Iglesias moved all the way to third on the play and then he scored on a Cortes sacrifice fly out to left field that made it a 5-3 game.

It was on the Syracuse Mets bullpen to finish the job from there, being handed a two-run lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning. The bullpen got the job done, but it certainly did not come easy. First, in the eighth, a home run from Jordan Luplow slimmed the deficit for Lehigh Valley to just a run at 5-4.

Then, in the ninth, the IronPigs made Mets reliever Josh Walker sweat. Lehigh Valley loaded up the bases with two outs via an error and two walks, bringing Roberts back to the plate with a chance to be the hero. Roberts already had two hits in the game, but he would not get a third. Roberts grounded out weakly to shortstop, handing Walker his third save of the season and the Mets their second win in as many days. Walker is perfect in save opportunities at the Triple-A level this season.

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 third game of the series is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. on Thursday. Right-hander Mike Vasil is slated to start for the Mets opposed by right-hander Tyler Phillips for the IronPigs.