BUFFALO – The Buffalo Bisons and Syracuse Mets split a doubleheader on Friday night at Sahlen Field. In game one, the Bisons used strong pitching to shut down Syracuse 5-1. The Mets got their revenge with a 7-1 victory over Buffalo to split the two games.
Adam Kloffenstein started game one for the Bisons and was able to record seven strikeouts in four innings against Syracuse. He struck out back-to-back batters in the first inning to keep the game scoreless and at one point struck out four straight Mets’ hitters.
RJ Schreck drove in the game’s first runs in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a three-run home run to right field. Phil Clarke reached on a catcher’s interference call by the home plate umpire, while Jonatan Clase hit his second double of the game before the home run. Both base runners scored on Schreck’s ninth Triple-A home run of the season for a 3-0 lead.
Buffalo extended the lead to four runs on back-to-back base hits against Jonathan Pintaro in the bottom of the third. Buddy Kennedy had an opposite field base hit and advanced to second base on a wild pitch with Yohendrick Piñango at the plate. The outfielder collected his 43rd RBI of the year that grew the lead to 4-0 over Syracuse.
The Mets were able to cut into their deficit with a run in the top of the fourth inning. Kevin Parada reached base on an error and scored later in the inning on a Luke Ritter base hit to right field. The unearned run against Kloffenstein trimmed Buffalo’s lead to 4-1 midway through game one. The Bisons got the run right back in the bottom of the fifth on Kennedy’s second .
Lazaro Estrada pitched the final three innings to earn the win for Buffalo. The young right-hander struck out two while giving up just one hit. He has struck out a team best 89 batters. The win was Estrada’s fourth of the season, as well.
Syracuse was able to strike first in the top of the third inning to open up a six run lead over the Bisons. Jett Williams drew a leadoff walk and scored two batters later on a base hit by Ryan Clifford for a 1-0 advantage. Jose Azocar followed that immediately with an RBI double that scored Carson Benge, extending the lead to 2-0 for the Mets. The Buffalo deficit reached three, 3-0, thanks to a Kevin Parada RBI sacrifice fly to right field.
The Mets would add three more runs in the inning without a base hit. Two straight bases loaded walks were followed by a sacrifice fly by Carson Benge that resulted in a 6-0 lead for Syracuse over the Bisons. They would add another run on an RBI double by Parada in the top of the fifth inning that ballooned the advantage to 7-0 over the Bisons.
Buffalo’s first hit of the night cap came in the bottom of the fifth inning courtesy of Piñango single. He advanced to third base on a base hit to right field by Brandon Valenzuela and scored on a double play. The ground ball off the bat of Josh Rivera allowed the Bisons to end the shutout bid 7-1.
The two teams will meet for game five of their six-game series on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. at Sahlen Field. Alek Manoah is slated to start for Buffalo on another Major League injury rehab start. Radio coverage with Paul Hamilton begins at 12:45 p.m. on AM 1400 WWWS, the Audacy app, and Bisons.com, and television coverage on MyTV Buffalo with the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Duke McGuire and the ‘Voice of the Bisons’ Pat Malacaro.
