In the final game of a four-game series at NBT Bank Stadium, the Bisons lost to the Syracuse Chiefs on Thursday. In what was the last meeting of the year between the two clubs, Buffalo hit a season-high four home runs, but fell thanks to a pair of three run innings by the Chiefs’ lineup.
For the second straight night, and the sixth time this season, Matt Skole connected for a home run against the Herd. His first inning shot was of the three-run variety, and gave the Chiefs a 3-0 lead against Bisons’ starter Scott Diamond.
In the second inning with Jhonatan Solano on first, Steve Lombardozzi dropped a single into right field. Solano slid into third, when the incoming ball from right field got away from Matt Dominguez, allowing Syracuse to take a 4-0 lead, as Solano scored. Michael Taylor doubled in the third inning, and came across to score on a sac-fly by Jason Martinson.
The Herd’s first homer came in the fourth against Chief’s start A.J. Cole, when Domonic Brown put the Bisons on the board. The Buffalo right fielder knocked a two-run home run over the right-centerfield wall, just out of the reach of a leaping Michael Taylor. May 19 was the last long ball for the Bisons’ outfielder, who now has seven on the season.
A 3-1 fastball was deposited over the leftfield wall by Matt Dominguez to lead off the sixth inning. Dominguez’s homer cut the Chief’s lead to 5-3, and was his team-leading 14th of the year. Casey Kotchman hit a wall-scraping homer in the seventh, and Ryan Goins followed that up in the eighth for a homer of his own, scoring the game’s final run.
Scott Diamond retired 10 in a row following Taylor’s double in the third. That was before Syracuse increased their lead to 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth, when Chris Bostick plated Martinson with a RBI single, and Caleb Ramsey doubled in two. Diamond left after 6.0 innings, giving up seven hits and eight runs, with six of them earned. His record drops to 7-11. Diamond gave way to Chad Girodo in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Michael Taylor drilled a triple into centerfield, past a slipping Junior Lake, and scored on a hit by Martinson. Girodo escaped a bases-loaded jam later in the frame.
A.J. Cole ended his night with 7.0 innings and four earned runs, winning his eighth game for Syracuse. Bryan Harper relieved Cole for the eighth inning, and quickly allowed the fourth Bison blast, a solo-shot to Ryan Goins. Harper took a line drive by Jesus Montero off his shoulder in the inning, but stayed in the game. Matt Grace pitched a scoreless inning in the ninth to cap off the Chiefs’ win.
Ryan Goins and Matt Dominguez both went 2-4 on Thursday, while Steve Lombardozzi, Michael Taylor and Jason Martinson each had multi-hit games for Syracuse.
The Herd made two errors on the night, but shortstop Ryan Goins made a pair of highlight reel plays in the ballgame. In the fourth, Goins dove to his left to make a grab in the air on a potential base-knock by Chris Bostick. Goins then took away a hit from Jhonatan Solano in the sixth, spinning and throwing Solano out at first on a groundball up the middle, preventing a run from scoring.
The Herd heads to Pawtucket on Friday to battle the Red Sox. Chris Leroux looks to win his first game since July 7, and he will be opposed by Roenis Elias. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at McCoy Stadium.
BISONS NOTES:
Fresh off breaking the Herd’s modern era record for games pitched, Bobby Korecky has been placed on the disabled list. Ryan Goins was optioned to Buffalo after being activated from the Blue Jays 15-day disabled list. Fellow reliever Ben Rowen was also claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday… Dalton Pompey received a much-needed day off, after playing in 24-straight contests… Five of Ryan Goins last seven games have been multi-hit contests… The Bisons fall a game below .500, dropping to 56-57.
from Bisons.com via IFTTT
