Falu's walk-off homer leads Chiefs past Bisons

The Syracuse Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bisons, 7-6, on a walk-off two-run home run from Irving Falu Wednesday night at NBT Bank Stadium. The long ball finished a four-hit game for Falu and marked Syracuse's last walk-off home run since Jason Martinson on April 21, 2015.
Syracuse (24-46) began a rally down 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth. Falu led off with a single to right field, before Caleb Ramsey followed with a walk. A wild pitch by Wil Browning allowed Falu and Ramsey to move over a bag. Emmanuel Burriss doubled on a hard grounder down the third-base line, plating Falu and Ramsey to bring Syracuse within one. Stevenson advanced Burriss on a sacrifice bunt. With the tying run on third, Adrían Sanchez smacked a shot toward right field, over the head of Jake Elmore, scoring Burriss to tie the game. Sanchez attempted to stretch the double into a triple but was called out at third by third-base umpire Ryan Wills. Chiefs manager Billy Gardner was ejected for arguing the call.

However, the tie didn't last long. Roemon Fields led off the top of the ninth with a single against Austin Adams. Fields then stole second and Jhonatan Solano's throw went over the head of Sanchez, who was covering the bag. Sanchez blocked Fields's path and was charged with obstruction for an error, allowing him to advance to third. Christian Lopes hammered a ball to right field, deep enough for Fields to score on a sacrifice fly, giving Buffalo a 6-5 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Clint Robinson smacked a liner off Chris Smith down the right-field line for a double. Alejandro De Aza struck out and Solano popped up to center.
With two outs, Falu stepped up to the plate. Falu already had three hits including a double. But his biggest play of the game came on a 1-1 count. Falu pummeled a high fastball deep over the right-field fence to give Syracuse the win. It was the second walk-off of the season for the Chiefs. 
Falu pounded his chest as he rounded second base and shot his fingers up to the sky. He trotted on home and was mobbed and doused with Gatorade by his fellow Chiefs. During a post-game interview, Robinson dumped a bottle of Gatorade on Falu's head.
Buffalo (35-37) had scored the first run of the game in the top of the first. Dustin Antolin hit Christian Lopes with the fourth pitch of the game. Ian Parmley then reached first on a fielder's choice. Parmley stole second afterwards. Jason Leblebijian singled on a ground ball to left, moving Parmley to third. Rowdy Tellez then blasted a shot to center. Stevenson backtracked to make the catch, but the fly ball was deep enough for Parmley to tag third and score for a sacrifice fly.
Lopes led off the top of the third with a double down the third-base line. Elmore pinch-hit for Parmley and singled on a bunt. Lopes moved to third on the play. Leblebijian grounded into a double play but Lopes scored on the play. The Bisons were up 2-0 but weren't done yet. Tellez hammered a shot down the left-field line for a solo home run.
Syracuse finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Stevenson singled on a line drive to center to lead off the inning. Sanchez tripled to left-center, plating Stevenson. It was Syracuse's fourth triple this season. Brandon Snyder then grounded out to short, but Sanchez scored on the play.
The Bisons got both runs back the following half-inning. Mike Ohlman led the top of the sixth off with a double off Cody Satterwhite to left. Two batters later, Gregorio Petit doubled to right, plating Ohlman. After Shane Optiz grounded out, Roemon Fields tripled on a liner to left. Petit scored on the play.
Syracuse hadn't taken the lead all game until Falu's homer to win the game. The Chiefs's bats exploded. Robinson went 3 for 3 with a double, two singles, and two walks. Sanchez went 3 for 5 with a triple and double. But Falu's performance on Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium topped them all. 
Syracuse returns to action Friday night against Buffalo at 7:05. Jaron Long will start for the Chiefs while Mike Bollinger will pitch for Buffalo.