Tebow and Blanco homer, but Mets lose to Bisons, 8-2

Tim Tebow watches his home-run ball fly over the center-field wall in the bottom of the second inning on Friday night . The Syracuse Mets wore Nickelodeon Night SpongeBob SquarePants jerseys during the game, which were auctioned off with proceeds benefitting Helio Heath, a nonprofit organization that offers innovative treatment for people working towards recovery from substance use and mental health disorders. (Danny Tripodi)

July 5, 2019

Syracuse, NY - Tim Tebow stayed hot with a home run Friday night, but the Syracuse Mets fell to the Buffalo Bisons, 8-2, at NBT Bank Stadium. Tebow now has hit three home runs in his last six games.

Buffalo (44-42) jumped on Syracuse in the top of the first inning. Bisons shortstop Bo Bichette started the game with a leadoff double, stole third, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Patrick Kivlehan after Sócrates Brito reached on a walk, making it 1-0 Bisons. Brito then scored one out later on an RBI single from Richard Ureña, giving Buffalo a 2-0 lead. Reese McGuire then brought Ureña home from first on a long single aided by an error to give the Bisons a 3-0 advantage in the first inning.
Buffalo added another run in the top of the second inning. Alen Henson reached on an error and scored on a double from Bichette, putting Buffalo up, 4-0.
Syracuse (42-45) cut into the deficit with two home runs in the bottom of the second. First, with one out, Grégor Blanco crushed a solo shot. Then, two batters later, Tebow blasted his own solo homer over the right-field fence, making it 4-2 Buffalo.
Bichette stayed scorching hot in the fourth with a solo home run to push the Buffalo advantage to three, 5-2. In the first five pitches he saw of the night, Bichette blasted two doubles and that homer in the fourth. The number eight overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com, finished 3-for-5 on the night with three extra base hits, two RBIs, two runs scored, one stolen base, and one walk.
The Bisons added another insurance run in the fifth on an RBI double from Roemon Fields with two outs that scored Hanson from third base. Fields then knocked in another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly that plated McGuire from third, giving Buffalo a 7-2 cushion.
The Bisons kept the pedal down in the top of the eighth. Brito and Kivlehan singled, and Jordan Patterson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Ureña then singled to right to score Brito and make it 8-2 Buffalo.
Syracuse hosts Buffalo again on Saturday night for the third game of its four-game homestand. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. Left-hander Ryan Feierabend gets the nod for the Bisons opposite Mets right-hander Corey Oswalt.