STAFF REPORTS
One night after the Bisons’ monstrous 18-hit outing, the Mets settled the score.
Behind a four-run outing in the sixth against Buffalo starter Andrew Sopko and an additional six-run brigade in the eighth, Syracuse left town with an 11-4 victory over the Herd, Sunday afternoon at Sahlen Field. Patrick Kivlehan homered twice and Rowdy Tellez also weep deep in the loss.
Up until the sixth inning, things were going well for the Herd as they quickly erased Syracuse’s 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second with some offensive firepower of their own.
Working against Syracuse starter Harol Gonzalez, Tellez tied the game by blasting a full-count pitch beyond the berm in right center field for his seventh home run of the season.
Two pitches later, Kivlehan kept things going with a solo home run just over the right field wall to put Buffalo out in front, 2-1. Kivlehan later recorded his second home run of the day – and third in the past two games – in the eighth off Matt Blackham for his fourth multi-home run of the season with Buffalo.
Kivlehan’s 19 home runs in Buffalo this season (23 total on the season) is the most by a Bison since Mauro Gomez’s league-leading 29 in 2013.
Meanwhile, Sopko had a solid beginning to his 10th start with the Herd. After allowing Taijeron’s home run in the second, Sopko then retired 10 of his next 12 batters, only giving up a walk and a Gregor Blanco double in the span. He also ended the fifth inning with back-to-back strikeouts to Ali Sanchez and Braxton Lee as part of his seven-strikeout performance, his new season high.
But the Mets erased their 3-1 deficit and ended Sopko’s day in the sixth when they collected three of their five total hits against the right-hander. Danny Espinosa‘s RBI double and Ruben Tejada‘s RBI single tied the game at 3. One pitch later, Rene Rivera shifted the momentum completely with his two-run home run over the left-center field wall for Syracuse’s 5-3 lead.
The Mets then ran away with their big inning against reliever Tayler Saucedo in the eighth, collecting six runs on five straight hits to start the frame as Rymer Liriano‘s pinch-hit two-run home run snowballed into Rivera’s RBI double for an 8-3 lead. Ali Sanchez recorded na RBI on a fielder’s choice and a throwing error by Saucedo. Braxton Lee and Espinosa added RBI singles to round out Syracuse’s scoring.
With the loss, Buffalo finished 8-9 this season against Syracuse in what was their fifth and final meeting this season over the weekend.
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