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MOOSIC — It was Hawaiian Christmas Night in July at PNC Field on Saturday. The Syracuse Mets were more than happy to play the role of Scrooge.
Ronny Mauricio said Aloha to two baseballs and Ben Rortvedt to one as Syracuse rolled to its second straight 8-1 victory over the RailRiders before a crowd of 5,058.
“It might have been a real similar score, but they were two different ball games,” RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said. “It didn’t feel like we had as many opportunities as we did (Friday) night. We might have early on. They hit a two-run homer in the first and we get guys on first and third and no outs and couldn’t cash in. That was a big momentum swing for them and they were able to carry that through.
“Any time you hit multiple multi-run homers and you don’t get any yourself, it makes it really hard to pull off a win.”
Indeed, it was a silent night offensively for the RailRiders (15-9, 52-46) as they managed just four singles and struck out 12 times against five Syracuse pitchers. The bright spot was George Lombard Jr., who walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 23 games and singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
“George is a good baseball player,” Duncan said. “Even when he’s not getting hits, he’s making a really big impact for everybody in a positive way. Defense, on the bases. Even when he doesn’t get a hit, it seems like he’s putting together a solid at-bat. A pitcher has got to be dialed in to get him out. It’s a lot of fun watching him.”
Asked if he feels Lombard is ready for a callup to the major leagues, Duncan said, “He’ll be ready the day he gets the call.”
Just as he did Friday night, when he hit a two-run home run three batters into the game, Mauricio gave Syracuse an early lead.
Ji Hwan Bae led off the top of the first with a single against RailRiders starter Alexander Cornielle and Mauricio followed by hitting an 0-1 pitch out to right-center field for his 10th home run and a 2-0 lead after only two batters.
Cornielle retired the next two batters, but gave up a double to Ryan Clifford and a walk to Christopher Morel. Cornielle then tried to pick off Morel at first, but first baseman Tyler Hardman wasn’t covering the bag. The ball sailed into foul territory down the right-field line. Hardman retrieved it and threw to catcher J.C. Escarra to get Clifford trying to score from second to keep it 2-0.
With two outs in the top of the third, Clifford hit a foul popup in front of the RailRiders dugout on the third-base side. It was a tough play and a long run for catcher Escarra and he was able to get a glove on it, but not able to hang on. Given a second chance, Clifford doubled to right two pitches later. Morel then walked and Rortvedt hit a 1-2 pitch out to right-center field for a three-run home run and a 5-0 Syracuse lead.
When Zack Short followed with a single, that was it for Cornielle (1-2). He allowed five runs and six hits in 2.2 innings with four walks and two strikeouts.
“One of the things you have to learn is that when you have moments like that, you have to get locked in on the next moment and not let those missed opportunities bite you in the butt,” Duncan said. “It’s not easy to do, but it’s one of those things in this game. It’s not going to go perfect all the time. You have to be able to execute after the fact.”
Meanwhile, the RailRiders mounted scoring chances in the first three innings against Syracuse starter Robert Stock but came away with just one run.
Lombard led off the bottom of the first with a walk and Escarra singled. But Stock struck out Spencer Jones and Marco Luciano and got Yanquiel Fernandez to pop out to end the threat.
Oswaldo Cabrera was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the second, went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a flyout to right by Hardman. But he was stranded there as Stock struck out both Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Duke Ellis to squelch that threat.
Finally, in the bottom of the third, Lombard opened the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Escarra. After Jones was hit by a pitch, Luciano singled to score Lombard and send Jones to third. But Stock limited the damage to one run by getting Fernandez to pop out, then striking out Cabrera to keep it 5-1.
That started a streak by Syracuse pitchers of retiring 20 of the final 24 RailRiders batters. The only ones to reach were Jones on a hit by pitch in the fifth, Lombard’s single in the seventh, a walk by Fernandez and a single by Cabrera with two outs in the eighth.
“Stock was really good today,” Duncan said. “Seemed like he had his best stuff when he was in trouble. He did a good job of setting the tone and we couldn’t get any momentum going after that.”
Syracuse struck for two more runs in the top of the fifth. M.J. Melendez led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a single by Clifford. Eric Reyzelman was relieved by Rafael Montero. Clifford stole second and advanced to third when the throw from catcher Escarra skipped into center field. Rortvedt plated him one out later with a line-drive single past the drawn-in infield to make it 7-1.
Mauricio capped the Mets victory by lining a 1-2 pitch from Zach Messinger 400 feet out to right for his second home run and 11th of the season.
“He’s a good player. You make a mistake to him and he can do some damage with it,” Duncan said. “Two homers today, the last one was an absolute laser that wrapped around the pole. He also made a good play (at third base) on a ground ball that Duke (Ellis) almost beat out. You always see those guys at this level and wonder from the outside why aren’t they in the big leagues. But they’re here and you’ve got to figure out how to get them out. He had a good day today and we just move on to tomorrow and try to learn from it.”
Yankees No. 3 prospect Elmer Rodriguez (6-3, 3.03) will try to earn the RailRiders a split in the six-game set when it wraps up Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
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Ronny Mauricio said Aloha to two baseballs and Ben Rortvedt to one as Syracuse rolled to its second straight 8-1 victory over the RailRiders before a crowd of 5,058.
“It might have been a real similar score, but they were two different ball games,” RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan said. “It didn’t feel like we had as many opportunities as we did (Friday) night. We might have early on. They hit a two-run homer in the first and we get guys on first and third and no outs and couldn’t cash in. That was a big momentum swing for them and they were able to carry that through.
“Any time you hit multiple multi-run homers and you don’t get any yourself, it makes it really hard to pull off a win.”
Indeed, it was a silent night offensively for the RailRiders (15-9, 52-46) as they managed just four singles and struck out 12 times against five Syracuse pitchers. The bright spot was George Lombard Jr., who walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 23 games and singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
“George is a good baseball player,” Duncan said. “Even when he’s not getting hits, he’s making a really big impact for everybody in a positive way. Defense, on the bases. Even when he doesn’t get a hit, it seems like he’s putting together a solid at-bat. A pitcher has got to be dialed in to get him out. It’s a lot of fun watching him.”
Asked if he feels Lombard is ready for a callup to the major leagues, Duncan said, “He’ll be ready the day he gets the call.”
Just as he did Friday night, when he hit a two-run home run three batters into the game, Mauricio gave Syracuse an early lead.
Ji Hwan Bae led off the top of the first with a single against RailRiders starter Alexander Cornielle and Mauricio followed by hitting an 0-1 pitch out to right-center field for his 10th home run and a 2-0 lead after only two batters.
Cornielle retired the next two batters, but gave up a double to Ryan Clifford and a walk to Christopher Morel. Cornielle then tried to pick off Morel at first, but first baseman Tyler Hardman wasn’t covering the bag. The ball sailed into foul territory down the right-field line. Hardman retrieved it and threw to catcher J.C. Escarra to get Clifford trying to score from second to keep it 2-0.
With two outs in the top of the third, Clifford hit a foul popup in front of the RailRiders dugout on the third-base side. It was a tough play and a long run for catcher Escarra and he was able to get a glove on it, but not able to hang on. Given a second chance, Clifford doubled to right two pitches later. Morel then walked and Rortvedt hit a 1-2 pitch out to right-center field for a three-run home run and a 5-0 Syracuse lead.
When Zack Short followed with a single, that was it for Cornielle (1-2). He allowed five runs and six hits in 2.2 innings with four walks and two strikeouts.
“One of the things you have to learn is that when you have moments like that, you have to get locked in on the next moment and not let those missed opportunities bite you in the butt,” Duncan said. “It’s not easy to do, but it’s one of those things in this game. It’s not going to go perfect all the time. You have to be able to execute after the fact.”
Meanwhile, the RailRiders mounted scoring chances in the first three innings against Syracuse starter Robert Stock but came away with just one run.
Lombard led off the bottom of the first with a walk and Escarra singled. But Stock struck out Spencer Jones and Marco Luciano and got Yanquiel Fernandez to pop out to end the threat.
Oswaldo Cabrera was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the second, went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a flyout to right by Hardman. But he was stranded there as Stock struck out both Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Duke Ellis to squelch that threat.
Finally, in the bottom of the third, Lombard opened the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Escarra. After Jones was hit by a pitch, Luciano singled to score Lombard and send Jones to third. But Stock limited the damage to one run by getting Fernandez to pop out, then striking out Cabrera to keep it 5-1.
That started a streak by Syracuse pitchers of retiring 20 of the final 24 RailRiders batters. The only ones to reach were Jones on a hit by pitch in the fifth, Lombard’s single in the seventh, a walk by Fernandez and a single by Cabrera with two outs in the eighth.
“Stock was really good today,” Duncan said. “Seemed like he had his best stuff when he was in trouble. He did a good job of setting the tone and we couldn’t get any momentum going after that.”
Syracuse struck for two more runs in the top of the fifth. M.J. Melendez led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a single by Clifford. Eric Reyzelman was relieved by Rafael Montero. Clifford stole second and advanced to third when the throw from catcher Escarra skipped into center field. Rortvedt plated him one out later with a line-drive single past the drawn-in infield to make it 7-1.
Mauricio capped the Mets victory by lining a 1-2 pitch from Zach Messinger 400 feet out to right for his second home run and 11th of the season.
“He’s a good player. You make a mistake to him and he can do some damage with it,” Duncan said. “Two homers today, the last one was an absolute laser that wrapped around the pole. He also made a good play (at third base) on a ground ball that Duke (Ellis) almost beat out. You always see those guys at this level and wonder from the outside why aren’t they in the big leagues. But they’re here and you’ve got to figure out how to get them out. He had a good day today and we just move on to tomorrow and try to learn from it.”
Yankees No. 3 prospect Elmer Rodriguez (6-3, 3.03) will try to earn the RailRiders a split in the six-game set when it wraps up Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
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