José Butto shines in Syracuse Mets’ 9-4 win over Buffalo

The score of the box

Buffalo, New York – The Syracuse Mets were a well-rounded machine Friday night at Sahlen Field, relying on a steady offense and brilliant pitching from José Butto for a 9-4 victory over the Buffalo Bisons on a night out to 75 degrees in Western New York. The Mets have now won three of the first four games of the week-long six-game series, outscoring the Bisons 27-15 in the process.

One night, after scoring just one run on three hits, Syracuse (49-29, 3-1) flipped the script at the start of the first, Friday night. It took exactly three batters to take a 3-0 lead. Luisangel Acuña walked to start the game, Brett Baty singled to put two on base, then Rylan Bannon hit a three-run homer to make it a 3-0 game like that. It was the second time this week Bannon hit a home run in the top of the first inning. Bannon also hit a solo shot in the first frame of Tuesday night’s game.

The Mets kept the pressure on Buffalo (38-40, 1-3), scoring again in the second and third innings. In the second, Acuña’s one-out double was immediately followed by an RBI single by Baty to extend the lead to 4-0.

In the third, three singles by Mike Brosseau, Carlos Cortes and Austin Allen drove in the fifth run of the night for the Syracuse Mets. By the end of the third inning, the Mets had nine hits and all but one of their batters had reached base at least once.

From there, it was Butto’s time to shine. By the time Butto left the mound, the 26-year-old had thrown 101 pitches and kept the Bisons stumped all night. Butto went seven innings, his longest outing of the season at Triple-A or the Major Leagues. The right-hander allowed just two runs in those seven scintillating innings on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. In his last four starts dating back to June 7, Butto has allowed just six earned runs in 24 2/3 innings, good for a 2.19 ERA.

In the top of the seventh inning, still leading 5-2, the Mets ended the game with a powerful hit. It seemed as though Syracuse wouldn’t even have a chance to score earlier in the inning, when with Luke Ritter on first base and two outs, Cortes hit a routine ground ball to second base that seemed destined to end the inning. However, the ball rolled through Miguel Hiraldo’s legs and into center field, opening the door for the Mets in the inning, and Syracuse pushed that door down. A walk to Rhylan Thomas loaded the bases, and then Allen hit a grand slam over the right-field fence, making it 9-2 and essentially ending the game with a powerful hit.

From there, the Bisons could only muster two more runs as the Mets rolled to a 9-4 victory over the Bisons in front of an announced crowd of 12,321 fans at Sahlen Field. It’s now a 3-1 start to the second half of the season for the Mets and an overall record of 49-29, tying Syracuse’s season record at 20 games above .500. Syracuse is also a 24-15 away spark this season. The Mets have won seven of their last eight games away from NBT Bank Stadium.

The Syracuse Mets are on the road all week at the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. Game 5 of the six-game series against the Bisons is Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Left-hander Joey Lucchesi is expected to start on the mound for the Mets.