Allentown, PA (April 30, 2019) - The Syracuse Mets blasted the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 18-5, on Tuesday evening at Coca-Cola Park. The 18 runs were scored on 17 hits, which are both season highs. The last time Syracuse scored at least 18 runs was on May 14, 2008 at Charlotte as part of an 18-6 victory.
Syracuse (16-9) got its big offensive day going in the top of the first inning. Rajai Davis led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to seven games, followed by a single from Danny Espinosa to put runners on the corners. With Adeiny Hechavarría at the plate, a passed ball on catcher Deivy Grullon allowed Davis to score from third base to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Hechavarría then took an 0-2 pitch and singled up the middle to plate Espinosa and push the lead to 2-0. From there, after a strikeout, Luis Guillorme singled, and David Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to score Hechavarría and post a three-run first inning.
In the second, Chris Flexen helped his own cause with a one-out single. Davis followed with a single. Espinosa then hit a ground ball to second, and Malquin Canelo committed an error trying to start the double play at second. Flexen came around to score for a 4-0 Mets advantage. Later, with two outs, Carlos Gómez walked to load the bases, and Guillorme singled to center field to score both Davis and Espinosa and extend the lead to 6-0. Thompson followed with a ground ball to third, but Mitch Walding committed an error, allowing Gómez to score and give the Mets seven runs in the first two innings.
The Mets continued their biggest offensive day of the year in the fourth. Espinosa walked and Hechavarría doubled to put runners on second and third. After a strikeout and a walk, Thompson doubled to left field to bring two runners across for a 9-0 edge. Tim Tebow followed with a two-run single to left field for an 11-0 lead.
Lehigh Valley (16-8) finally scored its first run in the bottom of the fourth. Shane Robinson walked on four pitches, and Lane Adams doubled to deep-center field to score Robinson from first, making it an 11-1 ballgame.
But the Mets would quickly get that run back. Rymer Liriano pinch hit for Davis and walked with one out. Espinosa then doubled, putting runners on second and third. Hechavarria followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Liriano for a 12-1 lead.
The IronPigs got another run in the sixth. Adams doubled to lead off the inning, and Romine singled with one out. Grullon followed with a single to center to score Adams and make the score 12-2. With two on and on out, Flexen struck out both Walding and Damek Tomscha to end any hope of a big inning.
Flexen tied his career high with 11 strikeouts in the game through six innings pitched for Syracuse while walking just two batters.
The Mets saved their biggest inning for last. In the ninth, Tebow and René Rivera each reached on IronPigs errors to start the frame. After a strikeout, Syracuse hit three doubles in a stretch of four total pitches, starting with Liriano on an 0-1 count to bring in Tebow. Then Espinosa on the next pitch doubled to bring in two runs, and then Hechavarría capped things off on an 0-1 pitch to push the score to 16-2. Gómez continued the inning with a single, and Guillorme was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The next batter, Thompson, was also hit by a pitch to make the score 17-2. Tebow then grounded into a force out at second, scoring Gómez from third to cap the scoring at six runs in the ninth and an 18-2 lead.
The IronPigs trimmed the final margin in the bottom of the ninth. Walding and Canelo walked, putting two runners on with one out. Two batters later Robinson hit his third home run of the season to cut the score to 18-5.
The Mets and IronPigs play the third game of their four-game series on Wednesday night. RHP Corey Oswalt will start for Syracuse while RHP Tyler Viza will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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