Horwitz powers big Bisons victory in Syracuse

SYRACUSE, NY - The Buffalo Bisons racked up 17 hits as a team in a dominant 13-5 win over the Syracuse Mets on Saturday night.

Spencer Horwitz had a monstrous game at the plate in the Saturday night win for the Bisons, Horwitz would record his second six RBI game of his career. The first came last season 4/30/23 at Gwinnett, where he also had five hits in that game with a pair of runs scored.

After a scoreless first inning, the Bisons get on the board first with a two-run single from Michael Turconi. It was followed by a Steward Berroa single that scored Rafael Lantigua. The offensive stampede would continue with Horwitz hitting his 20^th double of the season and second double of the night scoring two runners in the process giving Buffalo a 5-0 lead at the top of the second.

Turconi was promoted from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Saturday afternoon and would make a strong first impression. The young infielder made an immediate impact in his first career Triple-A at bat, he would finish his Bisons debut going 2-5 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBIs.

Syracuse would not take long to respond, however as Pablo Reyes would hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second. Reyes second Triple-A home run hit of the season brought Syracuse within a pair of runs, down 5-3 to Buffalo.

The Herd rallied in the top of the fourth with two outs when Horwitz belted a two-run home run for a 7-3 lead. It was the first baseman’s third home run of the season, also giving him four RBIs on the night,

The Mets cut into the Bisons’ lead one inning later with an RBI double by Rylan Bannon in the bottom of the fifth. His base hit scored Hayden Senger after his leadoff double, trimming Buffalo’s lead to 7-4.

The back and forth night would continue the following inning with a Nathan Lukes single once again scoring Berroa. Addison Barger would add more runs to the scoreboard with a three-run home run. His seventh of the season extended the Bisons lead out to 11-4 in the top of the sixth inning.

Reyes continued to lead the way for Syracuse, hitting a single RBI his fourth of the night bringing the game score to 11-5 Buffalo. It would not be enough to secure a win as the Mets would not score again during the game.

Horwitz continued to impress with a two-run single resulting in Turconi and Berroa scoring once again in the top of the seventh which would ultimately be the final runs of the game. It capped the scoring with the Bisons comfortably in front 13-5.

Aaron Sanchez was credited with his first win of the season by going 5.1 innings in the start. The veteran right hander struck out five and was followed by three Bisons relievers. Hayden Juenger, Brandon Eister, and Hagen Danner combined to work 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Eisert struck out all four batters he faced. That brought his total to seven strikeouts in the series and has not allowed a batter to reach base against him in relief this week.

The Herd will take on Syracuse in the final game of the series Sunday afternoon. The first pitch at NBT Bank Stadium is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.