Bisons blank Syracuse 5-0 behind early offense, second shutout in a week

Buffalo keeps finding the same answer against Syracuse: score early, let the starter control the middle innings, and hand a clean lead to the bullpen. The Bisons blanked the Mets 5-0 at Sahlen Field, a result that did more than add another win to the ledger. It marked Buffalo’s second shutout of Syracuse in the same week and clinched the series, showing a matchup pattern that has repeatedly silenced a lineup that could not solve the Bisons when the game was in the balance.

Josh Kasevich set the tone immediately with his first home run of the season in the first inning, a solo shot that gave Buffalo a quick edge and signaled that Syracuse would be playing from behind all afternoon. Kasevich kept driving the offense later, finishing with two extra-base hits and two RBIs. Buffalo then broke the game open in the third inning, when Yohendrick Piñango worked into the rally, Eloy Jimenez won a pitch challenge that extended the inning, and Charles McAdoo and Riley Tirotta followed with back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 4-0.

The fourth Buffalo run on the day came from the same formula that has made this series lopsided: pressure on the bases, timely contact and no wasted innings. Piñango scored on Kasevich’s RBI double in the third, then added another run-scoring double in the sixth after a Syracuse error helped create one more opening. By then, the game had long since shifted away from the Mets, who never found a way to turn a brief opening into a real threat.

CJ Van Eyk gave Buffalo exactly the kind of start that makes an early lead feel secure. He worked six innings for his first quality start of the season, and the first quality start by a Bisons pitcher in 2026, allowing just two hits, one walk and one strikeout. Chase Lee and Jesse Hahn handled the final three innings to finish the shutout. Syracuse’s best chance came in the third, when Yonny Hernández doubled, reached third and was left stranded. Carl Edwards Jr. took the loss after allowing four runs on four hits with three strikeouts.

The Bisons entered at 7-7 and the Mets at 6-8, but the larger gap in this series has been execution. Buffalo had already shut out Syracuse twice in its April 8 doubleheader, winning 2-0 and 4-3, and this latest 5-0 result reinforced that the Bisons’ pitching depth and defensive work have been enough to keep Syracuse’s lineup quiet more than once.