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| Brandon McIlwain had two doubles and a walk on Sunday afternoon for Syracuse (Herm Card - herm4444@gmail.com). |
Syracuse, NY – The Syracuse Mets, playing one final game as the Syracuse Salt Potatoes, dropped the series finale to the Buffalo Bisons, 5-2, on a sunny Sunday afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium. Despite the loss, it was still a solid series and two-week homestand for Syracuse. The Mets split the series against the Bisons this week and took three out of five games from Columbus last week to finish the two-week homestand with a 6-5 record.
Syracuse (52-71, 19-30) got on the board right away in the bottom of the first, plating a two-out run to surge to an early 1-0 lead. With Wyatt Young on second and Carlos Cortes on first after a pair of walks, Brandon McIlwain laced a double down the right-field line to plate Young and hand the Salt Potatoes the lead, 1-0. McIlwain continues to stay red-hot at the plate.
Buffalo (60-64, 26-23) bounced right back and tied the game in the top of the second. After a pair of walks had put Addison Barger and Tanner Morris on base with two outs, Jamie Ritchie singled home Barger to knot the game, 1-1.
The game would remain tied at one until the top of the fifth, when the start for Syracuse pitcher José Butto came a bit unraveled. The first four batters reached in the inning as Mason McCoy walked, Nathan Lukes singled, Lantigua singled to load the bases, and then Spencer Horwitz plated McCoy and Lukes on a two-run double for a 3-1 Buffalo lead. Later in the inning, and Orelvis Martinez sacrifice fly out to center field scored Horwitz from third base to make it a 4-1 ballgame.
It was a frustrating end to the afternoon for Butto, who ended up with a final line of four runs in five innings with seven hits allowed, four walks, and three strikeouts. In his prior two outings, Butto had allowed just three earned runs in 11 and two-thirds innings with ten strikeouts.
The Salt Potatoes got a run back in the bottom of the sixth. With Joe Suozzi standing on second base with two outs, Wyatt Young smacked a single into center field to score Suozzi and make it a 4-2 game. That was followed by consecutive walks to Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty, loading up the bases with two outs. However, Carlos Cortes flied out to end the inning and continue what would prove to be a troublesome trend for Syracuse all afternoon long. The Salt Potatoes left at least two runners on base in seven different innings during Sunday’s game.
Syracuse capped off that unfortunate trend in the bottom of the ninth while trailing 5-2. After Cortes flied out to start the inning, but McIlwain walked, and Michael Perez singled to put two runners on base and bring the potentially tying run to the plate. It wasn’t to be, as the next two batters recorded outs, and the Salt Potatoes fell three runs short. Syracuse left a grand total of 15 runners on base in the game and went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Buffalo had added insurance in the top of the ninth via a Spencer Horwitz solo home run. Horwitz finished Sunday’s game 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and three runs driven in. The left-handed hitter was remarkably successful against Syracuse all season long. Horwitz hit .481 (38-for-79) with eight doubles, four home runs, and 20 runs driven in.
Syracuse now hits the road for six games this week at the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The first game of the series is slated for a 6:45 p.m. start on Tuesday. Right-hander Justin Jarvis is scheduled to start on the mound for the Mets on Tuesday.
Brandon McIlwain: 🔥
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 27, 2023
We’re on the board in the first! pic.twitter.com/MHbk6xRgeu
Wyatt Young is awesome pic.twitter.com/aFDunMJMHX
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 27, 2023
Hunter Parsons with an impressive relief outing for the @SyracuseMets 2.2 innings, no runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 K - topping out at 95.2 MPH. Syracuse falls on Sunday 5-2 #Mets #LGM #MetsTwitter @ernestdove @MiLBMetsMadness @bkfan09 @WexlerRules @ImAriBeRKO @bronxfanatic pic.twitter.com/2gW1UdLu3w
— Mets News and Links (@JohnFromAlbany) August 27, 2023
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