Buffalo beats Syracuse, 6-4, in rain-shortened game on Thursday night

*Buffalo, NY - *A six-run bottom of the fifth inning was enough to give the Buffalo Bisons a 6-4 victory over the Syracuse Mets on Thursday night at Sahlen Field. The game was called with one out in the top of the sixth inning because of unsafe field conditions after rain paused the game.

Syracuse (42-66) got on the board first thanks to a Cheslor Cuthbert solo home run in the bottom of the second inning, which gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Buffalo (67-41) struggled on offense thanks to four magnificent innings on the mound from Syracuse starting pitcher Josh Walker. The 26-year-old didn’t allow a hit in his first four innings on the mound and allowed only one walk, but Walker ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Bisons finally got to Walker in the fifth. After four scoreless innings to start the game, Walker gave up a one-out single to Christian Colón to lead off the fifth. Logan Warmoth followed with a go-ahead, two-run homer to give the Bisons a 2-1 lead. Rodrigo Vigil then walked, and Reggie Pruitt singled. After Forrest Wall grounded out, Otto Lopez hit a one-run single to score Vigil and increase the Buffalo lead to two, 3-1. Tyler White followed with a three-run home run to make it 6-1 Buffalo.

The Mets responded in the top of the sixth. José Peraza hit a leadoff single. Josê Martinez then doubled, putting runners at second and third base. Travis Blankenhorn followed with a three-run homer to bring Syracuse within two, 6-4 Bisons. Two batters later, as Buffalo was making a pitching change, a hard rain started coming down, and the tarp was put on the field.

After a delay, the field was determined unsafe to play on and the game was completed early with Buffalo taking the win.

The Mets and Bisons return to Sahlen Field on Friday for the fourth game of the six-game series. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.