Syracuse splits Thursday Afternoon doubleheader at Buffalo 

Buffalo, NY –The Syracuse Mets split Thursday afternoon’s doubleheader against the Buffalo Bisons with Syracuse wiining the first game, 1-0, in eight innings before losing the second game, 4-1. The Mets are now 4-5 in the first nine games of their 12-game road trip.

Game one of Thursday’s doubleheader was highlighted by outstanding starting pitching. Buffalo’s (22-17) Nick Allgeyer kept Syracuse off schedule nearly the entire game, hurling five and two-thirds scoreless innings with six strikeouts and just one walk.

Syracuse (14-24) did have its chances to score off Allgeyer, however. The best shot for the Mets came in the fourth when a walk to Tzu-Wei Lin plus a Mark Vientos single and a hit batter loaded up the bases. Carlos Cortes came to the plate with the bags full and two outs, but Allgeyer induced a groundout to leave the bases loaded. The Mets ended up stranding six runners on base during Allgeyer’s stint on the mound, including three runners in scoring position and two runners on third base.

On the other side, Connor Grey was on point for Syracuse. The right-hander did not allow a hit in six excellent frames, striking out seven while scattering two walks and six hits.

Like Allgeyer, Grey had to dance around some danger at some points during his start. His greatest escape came in his final inning of work in the sixth when the Bisons managed to load the bases with nobody out via three straight singles to start the inning. Otto Lopez came to the plate with the bags full and nobody out, which commenced Grey’s escape act. Lopez chopped a ground ball to short, with Mets shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin firing home to get the lead run on a force out, and after catcher Nick Meyer caught the ball, he whipped a throw to third base, forcing out Jordan Groshans to make it a double play. Grey completed the inning himself, picking off Samad Taylor at second base to evacuate the bases-loaded jam without a run coming across home plate.

The game remained tied at zero into extra innings when Syracuse finally took the lead for good. As is custom in the minor leagues, the first extra inning (the eighth inning as part of a seven-inning doubleheader game) started with Cody Bohanek at second base as Syracuse’s free runner. Johneshwy Fargas advanced Bohanek to third via a fly out to center field. Lin then followed with a single back up the middle that scored Bohanek and put the Mets in front for good, 1-0.

Yoan López made the 1-0 lead hold up in the bottom of the eighth, inducing three straight groundouts to leave Eric Stamets at third and give Syracuse the win in the first half of Thursday’s doubleheader.

The second game of the doubleheader would go Buffalo’s way, as the Bisons did their scoring consistently and in slow drips throughout the game. They scored single runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings en route to a 4-1 victory, with a couple of players grabbing the headlines. Cavan Biggio walked twice and scored two runs with Jordan Groshans driving Biggio in both times he reached base. Biggio has scored four runs in the first three games of the series. In fact, all but one player in the Bisons starting lineup reached base at least once in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader.

Buffalo’s pitching staff made sure the four runs would stand up, as Jeremy Beasley, Brandon Eisert, Trent Thornton and Adrian Hernandez combined to allow just one Syracuse run on five hits in the second game of the doubleheader.

Fargas produced the Mets only run, lining a hanging curveball from Beasley over the left-field wall in the third to briefly tie the game at one. Fargas had three hits combined between both games of the doubleheader, including a double in the first game.

Syracuse continues its six-game series at Buffalo with a Friday night matchup. Left-hander Mike Montgomery is set to start for the Mets. The left-hander has posted an ERA of 5.52 in seven prior Triple-A outings this season. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.