IRON PIGS 4-SYRACUSE 3

Rajai Davis reached base twice, including homering in his first at bat of Monday's game. (Danny Tripodi)

Syracuse, NY (June 24, 2019) - The eighth inning cost the Syracuse Mets again in a 4-3 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Monday night at NBT Bank Stadium. Rajai Davis and Arismendy Alcantara both hit solo home runs in the loss for the Mets. 

Alcantara’s home run came as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving Syracuse a 3-2 lead. The 27-year-old has now hit six home runs since May 24th. During that span, Alcantara has a .369 batting average.

The IronPigs regained the lead in the next half inning though. Austin Listi kicked off the top of the eighth with a double, Deivy Grullon walked with one out, and Nick Williams singled to load the bases. After a timely strikeout, Ali Castillo delivered with a two-out, two-run double down the right-field line to give Lehigh Valley the lead, 4-3.

The Mets threatened in the bottom of the ninth thanks to two walks from Davis and Travis Taijeron. However, with Davis at second and Taijeron at first, Colton Plaia struck out to end the game. 

Syracuse (36-40) wasted no time getting on the board. Davis opened the scoring with a solo home run to lead off the bottom half of the first inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. 

Lehigh Valley (35-38) responded in the top of the third. With one out, Jan Hernandez walked. Listi followed with a two-run home run to right field, giving the IronPigs a 2-1 advantage.

The Mets quickly countered with a run in the bottom of the third to tie the ballgame. Rubén Tejada reached on a two-out single and scored from first after René Rivera plated him on a double, making it a 2-2 ballgame.

Syracuse faces Lehigh Valley again at NBT Bank Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. RHP Casey Coleman is scheduled to throw for the Mets opposite RHP Ramon Rosso for the IronPIgs. First pitch is slated for 1:05 p.m.