Acuña has four-hit night, but Mets fall to IronPigs, 6-4, on Tuesday night

Allentown, PA – The Syracuse Mets fell victim to a resilient Lehigh Valley IronPigs team on Tuesday night as the IronPigs scored the game’s final six runs in a 6-4 win on a warm late August night in the heart of the Lehigh Valley. Despite the loss, Luisangel Acuña had four hits. This is Acuña's third four-hit game of the season.

Syracuse (68-57, 22-29) kickstarted its scoring in a big way in the top of the third. With two on base and nobody out, Luisangel Acuña smacked a three-run homer over the fence in right-center field to power the Mets to an early 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, the Mets increased their lead when Yolmer Sánchez slugged a home run off the foul pole down the right-field line to push that advantage out to 4-0.

From there, however, the tide turned. Tyler Phillips, the Lehigh Valley (60-63, 26-24) starting pitcher, battled his way through five and one-third innings, allowing the four runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Phillips struck out three of the final six Mets batters that he faced.

On the other side, it looked like it may be a special start for Brandon Sproat. The top Mets pitching prospect was dominant early on, keeping the IronPigs off the scoreboard with no hits and just one walk in four stellar initial innings.

In the fifth, however, it all got away from Sproat. A home run to start the inning from David Dahl broke up the no-hitter and got the IronPigs on the board to make it 4-1. Then consecutive hitters were hit by pitches to put two runners on base. Carlos De La Cruz followed with an RBI single to make it a 4-2 game. A groundball double play had the Mets and Sproat dreaming of getting out of the inning with the lead still intact, but back-to-back hits from Cal Stevenson (a double) and Kody Clemens (a single) brought the two tying runs home.

Sproat was pulled after that, allowing four on four hits in four and two-thirds innings with one walk and five strikeouts. Sproat threw 76 pitches and 53 were strikes.

From there, the bullpens took hold. Jonah Dipoto, Freddy Tarnok, and Andrew Bellatti combined to keep the game tied into the bottom of the eighth for Lehigh Valley, while Joey Lucchesi did the same for Syracuse. The recently converted starter to reliever went two and one-thirds scoreless out of the pen, allowing just two hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Since being converted to a relief role, Lucchesi has allowed three earned runs in 11 and two-thirds innings with eight strikeouts in his four outings.

In the bottom of the eighth, the IronPigs completed their comeback effort. With one out, back-to-back singles from David Dahl and Jim Haley put two runners on base. The next batter, Matt Kroon, perfectly placed a single into right-center field, allowing both runners to score and hand the home team the lead for good, 6-4.

In the top of the ninth, the Mets did their best to mount their own comeback effort as Acuña singled with one out, capping off a four-hit night for the talented 22-year-old. However, the next two batters went down in order as the Mets dropped the series opener at the IronPigs on the mid-80s August night.

The Syracuse Mets are on the road all week, playing a six-game series at the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Game two of the six-game series is set for Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. Right-hander Blade Tidwell is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Kyle Tyler for the IronPigs.