Luisangel Acuńa stays hot as Mets beat IronPigs, 3-2, on rainy Wednesday night
Allentown, PA – The Syracuse Mets outlasted the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in a rain-soaked Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park, grabbing a 3-2 decision in a game that was paused about halfway through due to a rain delay. The series is now tied at a game apiece after the IronPigs took
Allentown, PA – The Syracuse Mets outlasted the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in a rain-soaked Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park, grabbing a 3-2 decision in a game that was paused about halfway through due to a rain delay. The series is now tied at a game apiece after the IronPigs took the series opener on Tuesday evening.
Syracuse (69-57, 23-29) and Lehigh Valley (60-64, 26-25) each scored runs in the first inning. The Mets combined a pair of two-out doubles from DJ Stewart and Luke Ritter to get on the board first for a 1-0 lead.
The IronPigs did one better in the bottom of the first. Lehigh Valley combined four singles and a fielder’s choice groundout to plate two runs and take a 2-1 lead after one inning. David Dahl and Jim Haley drove in the runs in the frame.
From there, both starting pitchers found ways to avert crisis time and time again. Lehigh Valley starter Kyle Tyler left four combined runners on base in the first four innings, allowing four doubles but stranding all four of those runners in scoring position. The top escape act for Tyler was in the top of the third when he somehow didn’t a run although the Mets had runners on second and third with nobody out.
On the other side, Syracuse starter Blade Tidwell wiggled his way out of trouble too. After stranding the bases loaded to get out of the first, Tidwell did it again in the third and left another runner on base in the fourth as the IronPigs didn’t score in the second, third, and fourth innings. Five of the seven runners that Tidwell left on base were left in scoring position.
After the rain delay of about an hour paused the game in the top of the fifth, both teams went to their bullpens. After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, the seventh inning saw Syracuse surge back in front. A Carlos Cortes single kicked off the frame, followed by a one-out walk from Yolmer Sánchez that put two runners on base with one out. That was proceeded by back-to-back singles from JT Schwartz and Luisangel Acuña to tie the game for the Mets and then give them the lead, 3-2. Acuña is scorching hot to start the week in Allentown, following up a four-hit game on Tuesday night with another multi-hit game on Wednesday night.
From there, the Syracuse bullpen sealed the deal. Matt Gage tossed a scoreless seventh, Shintaro Fujinami left two men on base in the eighth, and then Eric Orze earned the save in a scoreless ninth. It was a quality bounce-back outing for the Mets bullpen after the IronPigs scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on Tuesday night to nab the series opener.
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 three of the six-game series is set for Thursday at 6:45 p.m. Right-hander Mike Vasil is slated to start for the Mets against right-hander Mick Abel for the IronPigs.