STAFF REPORTS
The Bisons lost their fifth straight game after dropping a 7-3 result to Pawtucket on Friday night at McCoy Stadium. A big seventh inning was plenty to seal the victory for the Red Sox.
Leading by just two runs heading into the seventh, the PawSox scored three runs to insure their ninth straight victory at home. Ryan Court hit a triple to right field to score Rusney Castillo from first base. Later, Bryce Brentz singled to right field to bring Court home. Finally, a wild pitch from Wil Browning allowed Sam Travis to make his way home and put Pawtucket up 7-2.
Pawtucket’s opening scores of the night came after a walk and a single respectively from Rusney Castillo and Mike Miller in the third inning. Court then sent a grounder to right field for his tenth double of the season to score both Castillo and Miller.
Buffalo scored a pair of runs to get on the board in the sixth inning, beginning with Jonathan Diaz’s trip to home plate after Pawtucket’s Miller made a fielding error on a force out attempt. Roemon Fields advanced to third after the error, allowing him to reach home when Jason Leblebijian hit a bloop single to right field, bringing the Bisons within two runs at 4-2.
Down five runs in the eighth inning, Dwight Smith Jr. drilled the only homer of the night. Smith had a full count against Austin Maddox before he knocked a pitch to right field for his sixth home run of the year.
Cesar Valdez (2-1) started from the mound for Buffalo and gave up the first four runs off of five hits. The righty also had four strikeouts on the evening. Browning and Matt Dermody serviced in relief for a combined two innings. Browning gave up three runs off of three hits and Dermody allowed just two hits and no runs.
Buffalo returns to action on Saturday night when they play the third game of their four-game set with Pawtucket at 6:15 p.m. Lucas Harrell will be on the mound for the Herd to make his first Triple-A start of the season and Hector Velazquez (4-1, 1.47 ERA) will start for the Red Sox.
BISONS NOTES: The Bisons have now lost 13 of the last 16 games they’ve played on the road and have yet to win on this week’s road trip…Jason Leblebijian and Dwight Smith Jr. had the best performances for the Herd, each going 2-4 on the evening…The Bisons have been outscored 38-8 in this five-game skid.
