On a day in which the Buffalo Bisons celebrated their annual “Dog Day” promotion, their outing against the Syracuse Mets represented anything but the dog days of the baseball season.
Instead, their 6-5 comeback victory represented perhaps the most resilient of the Herd’s wins in 2023.
The Mets got on the board first in the second inning on a solo home run courtesy of former New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez – newly signed to a minor-league deal by the parent club New York Mets a few days ago. Ronny Mauricio then followed up in the next inning with a two-run double off Drew Hutchison to make the score 3-0.
A two-run double by DJ Stewart then made the score 5-0 and prompted the lifting of Hutchison from the mound. Hutchison lasted just four innings while allowing five runs on six hits and striking out four and walking three batters.
The Herd’s bullpen – consisting of Sean Mellen, Trent Thornton, Jackson Rees and Paul Fry – held down the fort the rest of the way, not allowing a run and yielding just four baserunners from the fifth inning onward. That allowed the Bisons’ hitters time for their bats to get going – and did they ever.
First baseman Spencer Horwitz got Buffalo on the board with an RBI double and Wynton Bernard drove in a run to cut the deficit to 5-2. The score remained as it was until the ninth inning, when Mets reliever Bubby Rossman tried to close the game out for Syracuse.
Rossman promptly allowed runners on first and second base via a base hit and a walk. With no outs and a chance to tie the game Cameron Eden walked to load the bases and after Rossman got the next hitter out, Ernie Clement hit a bases-clearing double to knot the score up at five apiece.
With Clement on second and a new pitcher on the mound (T.J. McFarland), Horwitz then hit a walk-off RBI single – his fourth knock of the game – to score Clement and seal the win for Buffalo.
The win improves the Bisons’ record to 15-21 on the season.
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