By: Brayden Peters
BUFFALO, N.Y. - It was a good day to be a Buffalo Bisons fan, as the Bisons took down the Syracuse Mets 6-2. Buffalo's offense was active and disciplined, recording seven hits and getting walked 11 times, which ties for the most amount of times Buffalo has gotten walked in a game this season. Buffalo pitchers collected 11 strikeouts en route to the win.
"The wins we've had after the All-Star break, two of them were walks off without a hit," Bisons manager Casey Candaele said. "It was nice to score some runs and try to have some distance between us and the other team. So, it was good."
Bowden Francis was given the start on the mound for the Bisons. He threw 75 pitches in five innings, resulting in five strikeouts and two hits allowed. With his performance today, his ERA with the Bisons improved to 0.93 and he was credited with the win, improving his record to 3-1.
"It felt good," Francis said. "I think just keeping them kind of off balance. Just kind of moving the ball around, mixing up and keeping aggressive in the zone."
Luis Quinones relieved Francis and in two innings, he threw four strikeouts while allowing a hit and a walk. Mike Mayers relieved Quinones and although he didn't record any strikeouts, he only surrendered just one hit in one inning pitched. Mason Fluharty was the closer for the day and in one inning, he threw two strikeouts while surrendering two hits, two runs and a walk.
"You know, Quinones came in and did a really good job," Candaele said. "You know, the two innings he threw he kind of did what he needs to do to, you know, be the pitcher he can be and that's go after hitters and use his secondary stuff to put them away...Mayers had a clean inning, which was nice, and went right after guys. I mean, Fluharty hadn't thrown in a few days and was a little rusty, but, you know, 6-0 lead he went after people and did what he needed to do to finish it off."
Just like in Tuesday's 7-6 win against the Mets, Buffalo got on the board first in the first inning. Phil Clarke recorded a ground rule double to allow Will Robertson and Damiano Palmegiani to score, giving the Bisons a 2-0 lead. Robertson got on base thanks to a fielder's choice while Palmegiani singled. With the two-run double, Clarke now has 10 RBI this season.
"I mean, you got to love driving in runs," Clarke said. "You know, that's where you really help the team. So, being able to come through in that situation is awesome. You know, the more RBI I can get, the better the season."
The Bisons added more insurance onto their lead in the first. Alan Roden got hit by a pitch from Mets starter Mike Vasil with the bases loaded, allowing Luis De Los Santos to cross home plate.
Buffalo continued to add to their lead. With the bases juiced in the fifth inning, pitcher Shintaro Fujinami, who relieved Vasil, walked Roden which sent Palmegiani home. It didn't end there as Miguel Hiraldo hit a sac-fly that allowed De Los Santos to score, increasing the Bisons' lead to 5-0.
Syracuse continued struggling to stop Buffalo's offense. In the eighth inning, De Los Santos batted in Rafael Lantigua after reaching first base on a fielding error given to first baseman JT Schwartz.
The Mets once dormant offense woke up in the ninth inning. Luke Ritter doubled to send Brett Baty home to cut the Bisons lead to 6-1. Baty got a base on balls. Pablo Reyes proceeded to get a sac-fly that sent Ritter home to make it a 6-2 game in favor of Buffalo. However, Fluharty proceeded to strike out two of the next three batters to seal the victory for the Bisons.
With the win, Buffalo improves to a 45-52 overall record and a 8-15 second half record. Also, they jump into ninth place in the IL East and are now 2-0 in this series against the Mets. Syracuse falls to a 60-37 overall record and a 14-9 second half record. They remain in first place in the IL East.
Buffalo will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they host the Mets on Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Paolo Espino (1-4, 5.33) will get the start on the mound for the Bisons while Tylor Megill (2-0, 2.38) will start for the Mets. Buffalo will be wearing their Luces de Buffalo uniforms as there will be a Luces Banner Giveaway on Thursday.
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