Baty homers twice, but Syracuse loses to Buffalo, 7-6, in ten innings on Tuesday night

Buffalo, NY – The Syracuse Mets started a week in Buffalo in frustrating fashion, dropping a 7-6 game in ten innings on a sunny Tuesday night in Western New York. It snapped a three-game winning streak for the Mets, who have now lost six of the 13 games that they have played against the Bisons this season.

Buffalo (44-52, 7-15) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, pushing across an unearned run against Syracuse (60-36, 14-8) starter Blade Tidwell to take a 1-0 lead. Rafael Lantigua reached on a fielding error to start the inning, moved to second on a Riley Tirotta walk, then got to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI groundout by Will Robertson.

From there, the Bisons were confounded by Tidwell, who racked up seven strikeouts in the first four innings with just one hit and three baserunners allowed. Each of the seven strikeouts were swinging, as Tidwell showcased a wicked slider, a biting changeup, and a well-placed fastball early on in his outing. The seven strikeouts for Tidwell tied a career-high in his nine Triple-A outings so far.

While Tidwell was holding the offensive output for the Bisons in check, the offense for the Mets began to back him up. After the first two innings were scoreless, Syracuse got to business in the top of the third, plating three runs to roar in front for the first time by a 3-1 count. The highlight of the third inning was a two-run home run for Brett Baty, who has truly terrorized Buffalo pitching so far this season. Seven of his 11 home runs at the Triple-A level during the 2024 campaign have come against the Bisons.

In the top of the fifth, the Mets were gifted another run to up the lead to 4-1. Baty led off the frame with a double, remaining at second after a walk from Luke Ritter to put two runners on base with nobody out. A Pablo Reyes groundout produced one out, and then Drew Gilbert chopped a groundout to second base that looked destined to turn into an inning-ending double play. However, a poor relay throw back to first allowed Baty to prance home from third base on the error and boost that Mets lead up to three runs, 4-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Bisons finally got to Tidwell and roared back into the lead. Buffalo strung together four hits plus a walk to start the frame with five runs, highlighted by a two-run single from Rafael Lantigua and a three-run homer from Riley Tirotta. Tidwell exited the game in the midst of that scoring flurry, completing his pitching line for the evening. Tidwell allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits with two walks and the seven strikeouts in his four innings pitched plus the batters he faced in the fifth.

The Mets weren’t going to go down quietly. Syracuse brought out their power bats in the seventh and eighth to knot the game back up at six. First, Baty hit yet another home run in the seventh, a solo shot to trim the deficit to 6-5. The 24-year-old Texan eventually finished the game 4-for-5 with two home runs, two doubles, three runs driven in, and three runs scored.

In the eighth, Logan Porter introduced himself to the Mets organization with a bang. In his first game with Syracuse, Porter slugged a game-tying solo homer leading off the top of the eighth to turn it into a tie game, 6-6.

It stayed tied at six into extra innings, where the Bisons eventually won the game. The Bisons held off the Mets in the top of the tenth and started the bottom of the tenth in prime position with Rafael Lantigua as the placed runner at second base in a tie game at six with nobody out. Lantigua moved to third on a long flyout, necessitating Will Robertson to be intentionally walked to put runners on first and third with one out and the game on the line. The Mets then brought the infield in, but it didn’t end up mattering. A soft groundball from Damiano Palmegiani trickled past the mound on the middle of the infield, allowing Lantigua to score easily from third and hand Buffalo a 7-6 win. Syracuse is now 4-2 in extra-inning games so far this season.

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. Game two of the six-game set at the Bisons is set for 1:05 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday. Right-hander Mike Vasil is scheduled to start for the Mets.