Thursday, June 13, 2019

SYRACUSE METS LOSE CLOSE ONE 7-6




Travis Taijeron had a double, a home run, and two RBIs for Syracuse on Wednesday night (Danny Tripodi).

Syracuse, NY (June 12, 2019) - The Syracuse Mets rallied in the ninth inning but ultimately fell to the Charlotte Knights, 7-6, after a wild play at the plate to end the game on Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. With one out in the bottom of the ninth and Syracuse trailing by a run, Knights center fielder Adam Engel caught a fly ball and threw out Brandon Nimmo at the plate for a double play that ended the game.

Charlotte (36-28) got on the board first. Daniel Palka hit the first pitch of the second inning over the left-center-field fence for a 1-0 lead. 

Syracuse (31-34) quickly answered in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Dilson Herrera doubled. Travis Taijeron followed with a two-out double to score Herrera and tie the game, 1-1.

The Knights scratched across two runs in the top of the third to regain the lead. With the bases because of a hit by pitch and two walks to begin the inning, Jon Jay singled to left field to score Daniel Mendick to give Charlotte the lead, 2-1. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly from Palka pushed the lead to 3-1. 

The Mets got one back in the bottom of the third on Danny Espinosa’s 11th home run of the season and second in as many games to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

In the fifth inning, Taijeron kept his bat hot and blasted a solo home run over the left-field wall to knot the game up again, 3-3. Taijeron and Espinosa are tied for the team lead with 42 RBIs on the season.

Syracuse starter Casey Coleman pitched a scoreless fourth inning to keep the game tied. He allowed just three earned runs on four hits in five innings of work and struck out four batters.

Chris Flexen came on in the sixth inning for some timely pitching out of the pen. Flexen got all three outs in the sixth after inheriting two runners. The Mets reliever was virtually flawless in two innings of work, allowing just one hit and no earned runs.

Charlotte opened the game up in the top of the eighth. The Knights scored three runs to go back in front, 6-3. Paulo Orlando scored on an Alcides Escobar double for a 4-3 lead, Zack Collins scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-3, and Seby Zavala plated the final run of the inning on a two-out single to centerfield for a 6-3 advantage.

The Knights added another run on a solo homer in the top of the ninth by Ryan Goins pushing them in front, 7-3.

The Mets put together a valiant rally in the ninth. Syracuse loaded the bases with one out thanks to a Luis Guillorme single and two walks by Tajieron and Rymer Liriano. Nimmo became the third straight batter to walk, which brought home Guillorme from third, cutting the deficit to three, 7-4. Arismendy Alcantara then hit a two-run single up the middle to bring Syracuse within one, 7-6. Alcantara was on first and Nimmo was on third base when Espinosa flied out to center for the game-ending double play.

Syracuse and Charlotte square off in a rubber match at NBT Bank Stadium Thursday night. RHP Walker Lockett will be on the mound for the Mets opposite LHP Colton Turner for the Knights. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

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