Syracuse Mets lose to Buffalo, 5-1

The score of the box

Buffalo, New York – The Syracuse Mets were baffled at the plate all night by the Buffalo Bisons pitching staff, scoring just one run on three hits in a 5-1 loss on a sunny, pleasant evening at Sahlen Field. It was Buffalo’s first win in the first three games of the six-game weeklong series. It was also a completely different story from the first two games of the series, which the Mets won in part by combining to score 17 runs on 25 hits.

Buffalo (38-39, 1-2) got the upper hand on Dom Hamel early, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. After Phil Clarke doubled to keep the inning alive with two outs, Cam Eden hit a two-run home run over the left-field fence to make it 2-0.

In the fourth, the Bisons scored twice more, though those walks weren’t necessarily Hamel’s fault. The right-hander was haunted by two costly errors in the inning. First, Brian Serven led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Brett Baty on the play. Serven then moved to third on a single by Alan Roden and scored on a fly ball to left by Phil Clarke that was dropped by Luke Ritter, allowing Serven to score on Syracuse’s (48-29, 2-1) second error in a three-span batter. Later in the fourth, a Michael Turconi RBI single plated Roden and pushed Buffalo’s lead to 4-0.

From there, however, Hamel locked in and turned in perhaps his best start at the Triple-A level to date. The 25-year-old ended up working seven strong innings, his longest start this season with the Syracuse Mets. Hamel allowed just two earned runs on seven hits with one walk and a season-high nine strikeouts. Hamel surged at the end of his start, allowing only one of the final 11 batters he faced to reach base. Hamel also struck out six of the last nine batters he faced.

Ultimately, the story that night came down to the combined efforts of the Buffalo Bisons pitching staff. The Bisons were solid from the first pitch of the game. Buffalo starter Nick Fraze played the lead role in his role as the starting pitcher. Fraze was off to a good start out of the bullpen, but you would never know it from the way he pitched. The Texas right-hander threw three and two-thirds scoreless frames to start the game, allowing just one walk and one hit with three strikeouts. Fraze retired the first 11 batters he faced in order.

After that, the bullpen held the fort and then some. Luis Quiñones was nothing short of remarkable out of the bullpen for Buffalo, working three perfect two-thirds frames with six strikeouts. Quiñones threw just 36 pitches during his time on the mound, 27 of them for strikes. That was a new season high in innings and strikeouts for Quiñones on Thursday.

Mason Fluharty entered the game to get the final two outs of the eighth, then came back for the ninth, protecting a healthy 5-0 lead. Will Robertson had hit a solo homer for Buffalo in the bottom of the eighth, adding an insurance run.

To the Mets’ credit, they wouldn’t give up. After the first two batters of the inning were struck out and Baty was down two, Baty singled to keep the game alive. Rylan Bannon then doubled down the left-field line on a two-strike pitch to make it a 5-1 game. The grim hopes of a comeback would officially end there as Ritter struck out to end the game and hand Syracuse its first loss of the week in Western New York.

The Syracuse Mets are on the road all week at the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. Game four of the six-game series against the Bisons will take place at 7:05 p.m. first pitch Friday. Right-hander José Butto is expected to start on the mound for the Mets.