Syracuse Mets edge Bisons 5-4 behind Pache, Scott's shutout start

Syracuse did not win this one by piling up hits or cruising through the middle innings. It won because Christian Scott kept Buffalo off the board, Cristian Pache kept giving the lineup a pulse, and the Mets never blinked after the Bisons erased a four-run deficit.

Syracuse edged Buffalo 5-4 on April 9 at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, a road win that lifted the Mets to 6-6 and dropped the Bisons to 5-7. The result was all the more useful for Syracuse because it came after Buffalo had swept a doubleheader the day before, 2-0 and 4-3, and it came on a day when the Mets needed just five hits to score five runs.

Scott, who entered with a 0-1 record and a 6.48 ERA, turned in the kind of start that changes the tone of a series. The right-hander threw five scoreless innings and struck out seven, giving Syracuse a steady platform while Buffalo used a bullpen-game approach with Michael Plassmeyer opening and Jorge Alcala following behind him.

Pache set the first jolt in the second inning when he launched his first home run of the season to left field. That swing mattered beyond the scoreboard. It was a reminder that Pache, a veteran outfielder with major league pedigree, can still tilt a game without needing a big night at the plate. He finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored, a double, a homer and an RBI, and Syracuse kept leaning on him when the game tightened.

The Mets built the lead further in the fourth. Christian Arroyo doubled to open the frame, Ryan Clifford followed with an RBI double, and Buffalo’s defense cracked from there. Pache scored on an error, Hayden Senger came home on another, and Syracuse was suddenly in front 4-0 without needing a barrage of hits. That is the kind of efficient damage that travels, especially in Triple-A.

Buffalo did not stay quiet. In the sixth, RJ Schreck singled in a run, Ryan McCarty added a two-run single, and a throwing error let McCarty score to tie it at 4-4. Syracuse had let the game slip, but not the series narrative.

The answer came in the seventh, again with Pache in the middle. He doubled to start the inning, moved up on another throwing error, and scored on Jackson Cluff’s sacrifice fly to put Syracuse back ahead for good. Joey Gerber earned the win, Ryan Lambert worked a clean eighth, and Jonathan Pintaro struck out two in the ninth for the save.

For Syracuse, that finish mattered as much as Scott’s shutout line. Depth pieces are only credible call-up options when they can absorb a punch and still close the door, and on this afternoon Pache, Scott, Gerber and Pintaro did exactly that. The series was set to continue Friday afternoon, and Syracuse had already shown it could answer when the game got loud.