STAFF REPORTS
The Bisons lost their second matchup of the series against Rochester, 6-3, when the Red Wings hit the ground running in the first inning on Saturday Night at Frontier field.
Rochester took an early three-run lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to five consecutive singles. Niko Goodrum and ByungHo Park set the scores up followed by RBI singles by Leonardo Reginatto, J.B. Shuck, and Levi Michael to round out the big frame for the Red Wings.
The Wings added two more runs in the fifth inning after Daniel Palka and Goodrum hit line drives to reach base. Herd pitcher Brett Oberholtzer threw two wild pitches to not only walk Reginatto at the plate, but score Palka and Goodrum to give Rochester a 5-1 advantage to cruise to the victory.
Two of the Herd’s runs on the night started with leadoff triples to start their respective innings. Michael Saunders smacked a ball to left in the fourth frame to get to third and found his way to home plate after a ground out to short by Gregorio Petit. Then in the seventh, Jason Leblebijian batted a three-bagger on a fly ball to center field and Jon Berti brought him home with a sacrifice fly to right field.
The only other Bisons run of the night was in the sixth. Christian Lopes opened the frame with a line drive single to left field and Teoscar Hernandez got on base through a walk. Loading up the bases was Dwight Smith Jr. when he batted a grounder heading towards first. Danny Jansen then reached ball four in the pitch count to plate Lopes.
Oberholtzer went five innings and gave up as many runs in that span. Jeff Beliveau allowed the final run by the Red Wings in his two inning appearance. Will Browning closed out the final inning and dished scoreless relief.
Buffalo will play one more road game against Rochester on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. before heading home to Coca-Cola Field. Chris Rowley (3-4, 2.82 ERA) will be on the mound for his first start with the Herd after a three-game stint with the Blue Jays. Aaron Slegers (13-4 3.37 ERA) will get the start for Rochester.
BISONS NOTES: Jason Leblebijian was just a home run away from the cycle in this game. The Bisons thirdbaseman had a double in the third, a pair of singles in the fifth and ninth innings, and the aforementioned triple in the seventh…The loss is Oberholtzer’s first from the mound since a July 16 matchup against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
