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IL1 Syracuse Mets

Bisons Beat Chiefs in 13-7 Slugfest

August 3, 2012 - International League (IL1)
Syracuse Mets News Release


The Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, lost a back-and-forth slugfest, 13-7, to the Buffalo Bisons on Friday night. One night after a 2-0 Syracuse win that featured five combined hits, the teams combined for 20 runs on 34 hits as the Bisons evened the series at one game apiece.

Buffalo (55-58) got the scoring derby started in the bottom of the first inning against Chiefs starter Jeff Mandel. With one out, Josh Rodriguez doubled, and left fielder Lucas Duda followed by smashing a two-run home run to right-center field. Duda's first home run in seven Buffalo games this year put the Bisons ahead, 2-0.

Syracuse (54-59) answered with three second-inning runs off of Bisons right-hander Jeurys Familia. The Chiefs loaded the bases with one out on a Mark Teahen single and walks to Jarrett Hoffpauir and Brett Carroll. Catcher Jeff Howell, in his first game since July 1, then lined a two-run single to right field to even the score. Mandel followed by laying down a sacrifice squeeze bunt, scoring Carroll from third base for a 3-2 lead.

The Chiefs tacked onto their lead in the third inning with a pair of solo home runs. Corey Brown led off the frame with a shot into the right-field seats against Familia for his 22nd home run of the year. Three batters later, third baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir launched his first homer of the season with a long ball to left field, giving the Chiefs a 5-2 lead and ending Familia's night.

But the Bisons had plenty of offensive answers. In the bottom of the third, Buffalo batted around against Mandel and reliever Erik Arnesen. With two runners on and one out, Zach Lutz laced a run-scoring single to left field. Second baseman Josh Satin followed with a blast over the right-center field wall for a three-run home run, giving Buffalo a 6-5 advantage. After a Matt den Dekker single, Mandel was removed for Arnesen, who escaped the inning after loading the bases with one out.

Buffalo plated three more runs in the bottom of the fourth against Arnesen after a mid-inning argument between Syracuse manager Tony Beasley and Buffalo skipper Wally Backman. The two were ejected after getting into a shouting match near the third-base coach's box.

After the ejections, the Bisons kept on hitting. Rodriguez and Duda singled to bring up Lutz, who sent a two-run double into the right-center field alley. Satin followed up with a double scorched to left field, and the Bisons had a 9-5 lead. That knocked Arnesen from the game, with reliever Mitch Atkins coming in to retire the next three batters.

Syracuse added a fifth-inning run against left-hander Justin Hampson on a fielder's-choice ground ball from Carroll, cutting the lead to 9-6. But Hampson induced a pair of groundouts with two runners on to escape further damage.

The Bisons then put the game on ice in the seventh inning. Buffalo scored runs on a Fred Lewis RBI double and Rodriguez RBI single, both against Austin Bibens-Dirkx, to extend the lead to 11-6.

A two-run eighth-inning home run for Mike Nickeas extended Buffalo's lead to 13-6, with a Hoffpauir run-scoring single in the ninth inning providing the game's final tally for Syracuse.

Syracuse and Buffalo will play the third of their four-game series on Saturday night at 7:05. Chiefs right-hander Tanner Roark - the most recent International League Pitcher of the Week - and Bisons right-hander Chris Schwinden are scheduled to start.

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