STAFF REPORTS
BUFFALO — Pawtucket starter Jalen Beeks struck out 11 Bisons batters and took a no hitter into the sixth inning in a 6-3 PawSox victory over the Herd, Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Field. Buffalo fought back from being down early in the rain, but their rally fell short in their fifth defeat over the last six games.
The Boston Red Sox #15 prospect by MLB.com, Beeks was extremely efficient in his first two trips through the Bisons lineup. He struck out two batters in each of the first two innings before fanning the side in the third. He didn’t allow a base runner until Danny Espinosa reached on an error in the fourth, but the southpaw added two more punchouts to end the inning.
It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Bisons put a notch in the hit column. Tim Lopes extended his season-opening hit streak to 11 games when he chopped one pass the mound. Hard-charging shortstop Mike Miller couldn’t corral the baseball, allowing Lopes to reach first and break up the no-hitter.
No opponent has every thrown a no-hitter against the Bisons at Coca-Cola Field. The lone no-no in the park’s history still belongs to the Herd’s Bartolo Colon during the 1997 season.
Lopes’ hit did lead to a two-run Bisons rally as Danny Jansen singled home a run and Espinosa scored on a wild pitch from PawSox reliever Kyle Martin. But that only cut into a five-run PawSox lead and make the score 5-2.
Pawtucket scored first when former Bisons catcher Mike Ohlman hit a sacrifice fly off starter Joe Biagini in the third inning. The PawSox then plated four more runs in the top of the sixth inning, three of which came when Jordan Betts cleared the bases with a double over Dalton Pompey‘s head in centerfield.
For a moment, it looked like the Bisons would rally for the win. Trailing 5-2, the Herd loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh inning. However, Buffalo couldn’t get the clutch hit they needed, scoring just once on a bases-loaded walk by Pompey.
Biagini suffered his second defeat of the season, allowing five runs in 5.1 innings of work. He threw a Bisons’ season-high 99 pitches in his outing, striking out two.
The Bisons will look to avoid the series sweep on Sunday afternoon with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch from Coca-Cola Field.
BISONS NOTES
Buffalo was outhit 12-4 in the game…All told, the Bisons struck out 15 times in the contest, including at least one from all nine hitters in the starting lineup…First baseman Rowdy Tellezmissed his second consecutive game because of an illness.
Buffalo was outhit 12-4 in the game…All told, the Bisons struck out 15 times in the contest, including at least one from all nine hitters in the starting lineup…First baseman Rowdy Tellezmissed his second consecutive game because of an illness.
