Ryan Clifford had already struck out twice when Lehigh Valley completed its climb from three runs down, pulling even in the sixth inning and threatening to turn Syracuse’s early command of the night into a missed opportunity.
Clifford answered before the tie had time to settle in.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth, he reached an 0-2 pitch from Michael Mercado and smoked a line drive beyond the wall in right-center field. His 18th home run restored Syracuse’s lead, and the bullpen made the swing stand up in a 5-4 victory Wednesday at NBT Bank Stadium.
The IronPigs did not put another runner in scoring position. Kevin Herget, Cionel Pérez and Chayce McDermott carried the one-run margin through the final three innings, turning Clifford’s only hit in four at-bats into the decisive one.
It was the second forceful answer of the night from Syracuse, which fell behind in the first after a Jonathan Santucci throwing error helped Lehigh Valley manufacture an unearned run. Jefferson Rojas opened the Mets’ response with a single, then raced home when Ronny Mauricio drove a sharp liner toward the wall in right-center. The throw arrived at the plate in time but got away amid Rojas’ collision with catcher Payton Henry.
Eric Wagaman followed two batters later with a line-drive single to left that scored Mauricio and put Syracuse ahead, 2-1.
Rojas stretched the advantage in the second. After Jose Ramos singled and two outs followed, Rojas hammered Alan Rangel’s first pitch toward the scoreboard in left-center. Colby Thomas could only turn and watch as the ball sailed out, giving Syracuse a 4-1 lead.
The home run was Rojas’ second in as many games since reaching Triple-A. He finished 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs, reaching safely in each of his four plate appearances.
Santucci held the cushion through four innings, but Robert Moore tightened the game in the fifth. After Nick Biddison replaced Colby Thomas on a force out, Moore lifted a two-run homer to right-center that trimmed Syracuse’s lead to one.
The trouble carried into the sixth. Santucci retired Otto Kemp before walking Kameron Misner, prompting Syracuse to call on Herget. Keaton Anthony greeted him with a sharp double into left, easily scoring Misner and completing Lehigh Valley’s comeback.
The run was charged to Santucci, whose night ended after 5 1/3 innings. He allowed three earned runs, struck out six and walked three.
Herget kept Anthony at third by inducing a groundout from Carter Kieboom and striking out Thomas. Clifford supplied the counterpunch moments later, driving Mercado’s two-strike offering out on a low, hard flight.
Syracuse nearly added insurance in the same inning when Hayden Senger sent a sharp fly ball to center and reached third for his first triple of the season. Mercado stranded him there, leaving the Mets’ pitchers to defend the narrowest possible advantage.
They did. Herget retired Lehigh Valley in order in the seventh to finish 1 2/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts and earn the win. Pérez worked around Kemp’s soft infield single in a scoreless eighth, and McDermott struck out Anthony and Thomas around a Kieboom flyout in the ninth for his first save.
After Lehigh Valley had spent two innings erasing Syracuse’s early cushion, the Mets needed only one swing to reclaim it—and nine outs to ensure it never disappeared again.