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| Rafael Ortega hit a two-out, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for Syracuse on Friday (Herm Card - herm4444@gmail.com). |
Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets got back in the win column on Thursday night, walking off as 8-6 winners over the Buffalo Bisons on a warm summer's evening at NBT Bank Stadium in front of an electric crowd of 6,216. The Mets had dropped the first two games of the six-game series. Syracuse has now won three of the six games that they have played since the post-All Star Break portion of the schedule began last Friday.
Syracuse (38-53, 5-12) led, 6-3, going into the ninth inning, but Buffalo (44-48, 10-7) found a way to extend the game. Tanner Morris, Addison Barger, and Ernie Clement all singled to load the bases. Then, Spencer Horwitz and Davis Schneider both worked bases-loaded walks to cut the deficit to one, 6-5. The Mets brought Dennis Santana out of the bullpen, and Santana induced a double play, but Clement scored from third base on the play to tie the game. Santana did get the final out of the frame to keep the game tied going to the bottom of the ninth.
Luckily for Syracuse, Rafael Ortega was there to save the day in the bottom of the ninth. After Abraham Almonte walked with two outs and nobody on base to extend the frame, Ortega pummeled a drive down the right-field line over the right-field fence for a walk-off two-run home run to end the game in ultimate style with Syracuse winning, 8-6.
Buffalo got the scoring started in the game in a hurry. Three batters into the game, it looked like The Bisons would run away with an easy victory. Addison Barger homered leading off the ballgame, and after an Ernie Clement strikeout, Spencer Horwitz slugged another solo homer to make it a 2-0 lead for the Bisons just like that.
However, from there, José Butto settled into a groove. The next 11 Buffalo batters did not get a hit (a stretch lasting into the fourth inning) and the Bisons would not score again until the fifth inning. Horwitz hit his second solo shot of the game in the fifth, forcing Butto's early removal from the game later on in the inning. Butto tossed four and two-thirds innings in the outing, allowing four hits and three earned runs with four walks and six strikeouts. Command was Butto's biggest issue on Thursday night, as he threw just 46 strikes among 95 total pitches.
The Syracuse (5-12, 38-53) offense didn't score in the first three innings, but started to warm up in the fourth when Ronny Mauricio clubbed a solo shot over the right-field fence to slim the deficit for the Mets to one, 2-1. Mauricio's line-drive blast sailed over the wall at an estimated 115 miles per hour off the bat. The 22-year-old now has 15 home runs on the season, including three homers in his last six games.
Buffalo did respond with Horwitz's two-out solo homer in the top of the fifth that made it a 3-1 ballgame.
Syracuse struck right back in the bottom of the fifth inning. In fact, the Mets would grab the lead with five runs on three hits plus four walks and a hit batter. A two-run single from Michael Perez tied the game, 3-3, and an RBI single from Danny Mendick gave the Mets a 4-3 advantage. Then, an RBI double from Luke Voit and a bases-loaded walk by Ortega gave Syracuse a 6-3 lead. Syracuse sent ten men to the plate in the pivotal five-run frame.
From there, the bullpen for the Mets held the lead into the top of the ninth inning as Nate Lavender tossed two scoreless out of the bullpen and then Jeff Brigham tossed one and one-third hitless and scoreless frames in his own right. While the lead did not hold in the top of the ninth, Ortega's walk-off home run sent the home crowd home happy with the 8-6 win.
Syracuse continues its nine-game homestand at NBT Bank Stadium with the fourth game of a six-game series against the Buffalo Bisons. Game four of the series is slated for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Friday night. Right-hander Luis Moreno is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mets in his Triple-A debut against rehabbing big-leaguer and left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu for the Bisons.
Ronny Mauricio crushes one, cutting the Bisons’ lead in half! 💪 pic.twitter.com/NjVSOA6HBk
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 20, 2023
Michael Perez: game-tying 2-run single! He drives in Luke Ritter and Carlos Cortes and it’s 3-all in the fifth 🤩 pic.twitter.com/2LqTX8hoMI
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 21, 2023
A Danny Mendick single gives us the lead, and then Luke Voit steps to the plate 👀 pic.twitter.com/4R9LkP9gup
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 21, 2023
It’s a walk-off! Rafael Ortega sends the fans home happy with this two-run 💣 #LGSM pic.twitter.com/In0O6wRzT0
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) July 21, 2023
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