STAFF REPORTS
A game that was tied 1-1 into the fifth inning turned ugly fast for the Bisons as the Mets ran away with a 16-2 victory, Tuesday night at Sahlen Field.
Syracuse scored four runs in the fifth inning to break the game open before plating five runs in the seventh inning and four more in the eighth in the Herd’s biggest defeat of the young season.
The Mets’ rally in the fifth inning could be especially costly because Herd starter Sean Reid-Foleyleft the game with an apparent injury.
The righty had faced just two over the minimum over the first four innings before missing on a full-count pitch to Luis Guillorme to lead off the fifth. Dilson Herrera then hit a comebacker that Reid-Foley fielded cleanly but threw wildly to second. Reid-Foley then walked the next two batters to force in a run before being lifted from the game.
From there, the contest got out of hand as former Bisons infielder Ruben Tejada singled home a two runs before another former Herd player, catcher Rene Rivera, made it 5-1 with a sacrifice fly.
After the game, Bisons manager Bobby Meacham said Reid-Foley just felt something like a strain in his side/back and removed him was just a precaution. While the team will see how the pitcher feels on Wednesday, Meacham was optimistic that he’ll be fine and may not even miss his next start.
Syracuse’s David Thompson homered in the sixth and Herrera’s three-run shot punctuated the five-run seven. Travis Taijeron hit his Syracuse-best 12th home run of the year to bring home two of the four runs in the eighth inning.
Reid-Foley did take the loss to fall to 1-3 on the year. The Bisons closed the night out by sending 1B/OF Jordan Patterson to the mound to make his professional pitching debut. Patterson struck out his first batter with an 88 mph fastball and even topped out at 90 while allowing a run on a hit and two walks.
The Bisons got on the board in the third inning when Socrates Brito singled home Patterson to tie the game at one. Anthony Alford singled home a run in the fifth inning, but the Herd left the bases loaded in the frame when they were only down by three.
Game two of the three game set is Wednesday night at 6:05 p.m.
