Jackie Bradley Jr.’s home run highlights Syracuse’s 6-3 win at Buffalo on Saturday

Buffalo, NY – The Syracuse Mets got rid of their Sahlen Field demons on Saturday night. For the first time all week, the Mets took down the Buffalo Bisons, 6-3, on a sunny Saturday night. The Mets had lost the first four games in Western New York this week.

Syracuse (61-39, 15-11) took advantage of mistakes from Buffalo (47-53, 10-16) to jump out to a three-run lead in the top of the second. With Luke Ritter on third base, Yolmer Sánchez on first, and two outs, Austin Allen hit a groundball back to the pitcher Beau Sulser that appeared destined to end the inning. However, Sulser’s throw to first base was mishandled, allowing Ritter to score and the inning to extend. The Mets pounced from there as back-to-back RBI singles from JT Schwartz and Luisangel Acuña boosted the Syracuse lead up to 3-0. All three of those runs ended up being unearned runs on Sulser’s final line.

On the other side, the Bisons got their first run in the bottom of the second when Max McDowell slugged a two-out, solo home run to slim the deficit to 3-1. That would be the only run Buffalo would get off the Syracuse starter as Jordan Geber was excellent in his Triple-A starting debut. Geber allowed just the one run on three hits in four and two-thirds innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Geber threw a season-high 75 pitches in the strong Triple-A starting debut.

The Mets upped their lead with a pair of runs in the top of the six, highlighted by an RBI single from Sánchez that plated both Ritter and Pablo Reyes on the play. The scoring wrapped up for the Mets with a bang in the top of the eighth when Jackie Bradley Jr.’s first hit in the New York Mets organization proved to be a 422-foot solo homer that finished off the scoring for Syracuse at six runs on the evening.

It ended up being a well-balanced Syracuse offensive attack by the end of the game as all nine in the starting lineup reached base at least once, and eight of those nine batters had hits.

From there, it was on the bullpen to seal the deal. Justin Jarvis worked two and one-third innings after Geber’s start, allowing just one run on one hit with two walks and one strikeout.

In the bottom of the eighth, Ty Adcock came on after Jarvis protecting a 6-2 lead, but unfortunately it did not go as plan. Adcock allowed a run on a two-out RBI double to Alan Roden to make it a 6-3 game. Adcock then left the game with an apparent injury as McDowell stood at third and Roden now at second. Matt Gage came into the fray relieving Adcock, promptly walking Luis De Los Santos to load up the bases with two outs. Cam Eden then flied out to avoid a disaster for the Mets and strand the bases loaded for the Bisons. Buffalo had issues bringing in runners from the basepaths all night, stranding nine men on base in the game.

Gage came back out for the ninth and sealed the deal, working a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his third save of the season with Syracuse since joining the organization via a trade on July 7th. The 31-year-old left-hander has still yet to allow an earned run with the Mets in five relief appearances and five and one-third innings pitched, scattering three hits across those frames with two walks and seven strikeouts.

The Syracuse Mets are in the midst of a two-week road trip, beginning with six games at the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Buffalo Bisons. The Mets wrap up the six-game set at the Bisons with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Right-hander Blade Tidwell is scheduled to start for the Mets against right-hander Aaron Sanchez for the Bisons.