STAFF REPORTS



At the end of the night, it only counts as one.
On Thursday night in Rochester, the Bisons found themselves on the wrong side of a lopsided 20-3 loss to the Red Wings. The defeat drops the Herd to three games back of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the IL North division stadings ans the RailRiders defeated the Buffalo-bound PawSox, 4-3.
A game that started out bad only got worse for the Herd as Rochester built an 11-0 lead before the sun had time to set. The Red Wings scored four runs in the first and then sent 11 more batters to the plate in a five-run second inning that featured a grand slam from outfielder Brandon Barnes. 
It was a night that Bisons starter Taylor Saucedo would like to forget. The southpaw hit two of the first four batters he faced and then walked in the game’s first run after Barnes had reached on an error. Red Wings catcher Tomas Telis then sent a three-run double off the wall in right field to clear the bases for the early 4-0 advantage. 
Then in the second, the first five Rochester batters reached base, the fifth being Barnes’s grand slam towards the Bisons bullpen in the left field of Frontier Field. 
Then the fourth of four hits in the third inning was a two-run single from Telis as the backstop had a career game at the plate. The 28-year old was a perfect 4-4 with two walks, two doubles and six driven in.
After the Bisons scored all three of their runs in the sixth inning, Rochester sent 12 more men to the plate, putting up a nine-spot that allowed them to reach the 20-run plateau. Outfielder Roman Flores had a bases-loaded triple in the frame and Ronald Torreyes added a two-run homer.
In all, the Red Wings went 10-for-17 with runners in scoring position while the Herd was just 1-for-7. The one hit was a sixth inning triple from Michael De La Cruz that scored two of Buffalo’s three runs.
The defeat for Saucedo was his first of the year, dropping his record to 6-1.
Outfielder Roemon Fields pitched the eighth inning for the Herd. He walked two but also picked up a strikeout in a scoreless frame.
The Bisons will look to put this one behind them when they open up the final homestand of the year with a Honda fridaynightbash! against Pawtucket (7:05 p.m.).