The Bisons lost their fifth game of the final road trip of the season on Tuesday, as the Gwinnett Braves took the opener of a three-game series at Coolray Field 8-4. After losing series to Rochester and Charlotte over the weekend, the Herd falls to the G-Braves for the fifth time this year, and Buffalo drops to 2-16 over their last 18 games against Gwinnett.
A rough outing for Bisons’ starter Mike Bolsinger, who allowed six earned runs in 2.2 innings of work, overshadowed the Herd’s 11 hits and seven walks as a club. The Bisons had a baserunner reach in every inning, yet they drop to three games under .500, at 64-67.
The Herd took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first against Braves’ starter Aaron Blair. Jesus Montero plated Dalton Pompey and Darrell Ceciliani with a two-run double. The inning ended abruptly, however, when Montero was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a hit up the middle by Andy Burns. Montero finished the game 2-3, with two walks, and a rare infield single in the ninth inning.
The G-Braves quickly knotted-up the score at two in the bottom of the first against Bolsinger. Rio Ruiz cut Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first, knocking a double that scored Brandon Snyder, and former-Bison Sean Kazmar brought Ruiz home with a RBI single into left field.
A three-run blast off the bat of Emilio Bonifacio in the second gave the Braves a 5-2 cushion. In the third, Mel Rojas, Jr. came through with a two-run home run, as the G-Braves pulled to a 7-2 lead.
Blair stranded two runners in the second, inducing Ceciliani into a long fly-out to centerfield, keeping the game tied at two. In the third, Blair picked Andy Burns off first, leaving runners on the corners. Casey Kotchman extended his hitting streak to 10 in the fourth, taking Blair deep for a 405-foot home run.
In the third inning, Jason Berken relived Bolsinger, who struck out five hitters, but allowed six hits, and seven runs, with six of them earned. Back to back doubles by Reid Brignac and Brandon Snyder plated Gwinnett’s first run in three innings in the bottom of the sixth off Berken, who allowed three hits and the lone earned run in 3.1 innings of relief. Matt Dermody and Dustin Antolin each tossed scoreless frames in relief as well.
Aaron Blair left after 5.0 innings, six hits, four walks, and three earned runs. He was relieved by Jason Hursh in the sixth, who got Dalton Pompey to ground out with two runners on in the first of two innings of work. Hursh allowed his first earned run at Triple-A this season in the seventh, with Andy Burns knocking-in Darrell Ceciliani with a single.
Shae Simmons allowed a Montero infield-single, and hit Kotchman with a pitch, but sealed the Braves’ win by fanning catcher Erik Kratz.
Game two of the Bisons’ three-game series in Gwinnett will take place on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Casey Lawrence will take the mound for the Herd, and will be opposed by Matt Wisler.
BISONS NOTES:
Jesus Montero now has a 14-game hitting streak, the longest active streak in the IL, and longest streak for a Bison in 2016… Dustin Antolin has 13-straight scoreless outings out of the bullpen, and has stuck out 27 hitters in his last 21.2 innings of work… Dalton Pompey now has a stolen base in consecutive games, a feat which he previously accomplished on July 19 and 20 in a series against Norfolk.
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