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| Dom Hamel allowed just two earned runs in seven innings pitched while striking out nine batters on Thursday night (Kylie Richelle). |
By Mike Tricarico, Syracuse Mets Broadcaster
Buffalo, NY – The Syracuse Mets were befuddled at the plate all evening long by the Buffalo Bisons pitching staff, scoring just one run on three hits in a 5-1 loss on a sunny and pleasant evening at Sahlen Field. It was Buffalo's first win in the first three games of the weeklong, six-game series. It was also a completely different story from the first two games of the series, which the Mets won in part by combining to scored 17 runs on 25 hits.
Buffalo (38-39, 1-2) got to Dom Hamel early on, plating two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-0 lead. After Phil Clarke doubled to keep the inning alive with two outs, Cam Eden drilled a two-run homer over the left-field fence to turn it into a 2-0 game.
In the fourth, the Bisons scored twice again, although those tallies weren't necessarily Hamel's fault. The right-hander was haunted by two costly errors in the inning. First, Brian Serven led off the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a Brett Baty throwing error on the play. Serven then moved to third on a Alan Roden single and scored on a fly ball to left field from Phil Clarke that was dropped by Luke Ritter, allowing Serven to score on the second Syracuse (48-29, 2-1) error in a three-batter span. Later in the fourth, a Michael Turconi RBI single plated Roden and pushed the Buffalo lead up to 4-0.
From there, however, Hamel locked in and turned in maybe his best start at the Triple-A level to date. The 25-year-old ended up working seven strong innings, his longest start this season with the Syracuse Mets. Hamel allowed just the two earned runs on seven hits with one walk and a season-high nine strikeouts. Hamel surged at the end of his start, allowing just one of the final 11 batters that he faced to get on base. Hamel also struck out six of the final nine batters that he faced.
Ultimately, on this night, the story was the combined effort from the Buffalo Bisons pitching staff. The Bisons were rock solid from the very first pitch of the game. Buffalo starter, Nick Fraze, starred in his role as the starting pitcher. Fraze was making a spot start out of the bullpen, but you would never know it based on the way that he pitched. The right-hander from Texas tossed three and two-thirds scoreless frames to start the game, allowing just one walk and one hit with three strikeouts. Fraze retired the first 11 batters that he faced in order.
After that, the bullpen held the fort and then some. Luis Quiñones was utterly remarkable out of the pen for Buffalo, working three and two-thirds perfect frames with six swinging strikeouts. Quiñones only threw 36 pitches in his time on the mound, 27 of which were for strikes. It was a new season-high in both innings and strikeouts for Quiñones on Thursday.
Mason Fluharty came on to get the final two outs of the eighth and then back out for the ninth protecting a healthy 5-0 lead. Will Robertson had hit a solo home run for Buffalo in the bottom of the eighth, adding on an insurance run.
To the Mets' credit, they would not quit. After the first two batters of the inning struck out and with Baty down in the count two strikes, Baty singled to keep the game alive. Rylan Bannon then doubled down the left-field line on a two-strike pitch to make it a 5-1 game. The bleak comeback hopes would officially end there as Ritter struck out to end the game and hand Syracuse its first loss of the week in Western New York.
The Syracuse Mets are on the road all week at the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Buffalo Bisons. Game four of the six-game series at the Bisons is set for a 7:05 pm. first pitch on Friday. Right-hander José Butto is slated to start on the mound for the Mets.
How 'bout Dom Hamel?!
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) June 28, 2024
A new Triple-A high of 9️⃣ strikeouts in seven strong innings tonight. pic.twitter.com/kPfSsuiBMm
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