Buffalo tops Syracuse 4-2 after late homer and missed chances

Buffalo did not need a barrage to beat Syracuse, just one clean swing late and a night of missed chances from the home club. The Bisons took a 4-2 win Friday at NBT Bank Stadium after Charles McAdoo’s eighth-inning homer broke a 2-2 tie, then added an insurance run in the ninth while Syracuse kept leaving traffic on the bases.

The first crack in Syracuse’s night came immediately. Carlos Mendoza and RJ Schreck walked to start the game, and Willie MacIver lined a two-run double to right field to put Buffalo ahead 2-0. Syracuse answered in the second when Ji Hwan Bae singled, Kevin Parada added another hit and Yonny Hernández lifted a sacrifice fly to center. The Mets tied it in the third after Jared Young and Eric Wagaman reached and Ryan Clifford brought home a run with a sacrifice fly, but that was as far as the offense got.

That was the story of the game: Syracuse had enough baserunners to matter and not enough finish to cash in. The Mets went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners, a margin that loomed larger as the game tightened. Buffalo’s lineup did not look much louder on the scoreboard, but it was more decisive when the game asked for a swing.

Daniel Duarte took the first two Buffalo runs before leaving in the second, and Syracuse had to patch the rest together with Ben Simon, Zach Peek, Ofreidy Gómez, Cionel Pérez and Alex Carrillo. Gómez worked two scoreless innings and Carrillo handled the final four outs, but Pérez was charged with the pitch McAdoo drove to left-center. McAdoo finished with only one hit, but it was his second home run of the series and the one that flipped the night. Buffalo, which snapped a four-game losing streak, then tacked on another run in the ninth when Josh Rivera walked and Josh Kasevich followed with a fielder’s-choice grounder.

The game began at 6:34 p.m. and drew 6,669 under cloudy skies and 66-degree weather with a 4 mph wind blowing right to left. It also tightened the feel of a series that had already swung on offense, including Syracuse’s 12-8 win Thursday. Buffalo still trailed the six-game set 3-1 after Friday, with game five set for 6:35 p.m. Saturday, but the larger lesson was already clear: close Triple-A games punish every empty inning, and Syracuse paid for too many of them.