STAFF REPORTS
Sometimes, it’s not how hard you hit the ball, but where you hit it that can make all the difference in a game.
Alen Hanson‘s slow-rolling infield single produced the only run in a 1-0, game two Bisons victory in the second game of a doubleheader split with the RailRiders, Thursday evening from PNC Field in Moosic, PA. Taylor Saucedo, Ty Tice and Jordan Romano made the run hold up, shutting out Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on just five hits.
No game in June is a ‘must-win,’ but the night cap of the Herd’s twinbill against the top team in the IL North Division did have some extra importance. After charging up the standing thanks to a seven-game win streak, the Bisons were in danger of being swept by the RailRiders, having lost 10-1 on Wednesday night and 6-4 in the first game on Thursday.
But Hanson came through in the bottom of the fourth inning to score the all-important run. After Jordan Patterson led off the frame with a double and moved to third on a groundout, Hanson hit a slow grounder to second base. RailRiders’ Wendall Rijo charged hard on the play, but the Bisons third baseman beat the throw, allowing Patterson to score.
In contrast to Hanson’s hit, RailRiders’ catcher Ryan Lidge provided some last inning drama with a blast that nearly tied it. Making his Triple-A debut, Lidge drove a 2-0 fastball from Romano to the deepest part of PNC. The ball, however, hit the ‘396-foot’ sign on the wall in center and stayed in the yard for a double… instead of a game-tying home run. Romano then threw a 97-mph fastball by Herd-killer Mike Ford to end the ballgame.
Saucedo worked the fist 4.2 innings of the shutout and allowed just three hits and didn’t issue a walk. Tyce earned the win for getting out a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.
A constant offensive attack by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was too much in game one as the RailRiders scored in each of the first five innings. Third baseman Breyvic Valera homered in the first and doubled in two more in the second for a 3-0 lead. Buffalo took a brief 4-3 lead in the third, but former Herd backstop Erik Kratz tied the game with an RBI-double in the bottom half of that frame.
International League All-Star Ryan McBroom then beat out a potential inning-ending doubleplay in the fourth to give the RailRiders the go-ahead run.
Buffalo scored all four of their runs in the third inning. Andy Burns launched a two-run homer to left-center for his sixth blast of the season. Roemon Field followed with a single and Socrates Brito followed with his eighth homer of the year for the brief 4-3 Buffalo advantage.
T.J. Zeuch suffered his first career Triple-A defeat in the loss. He allowed all six runs (five earned) over 4.2 innings of work.
The Bisons will now return home for the start of a six-game homestand on Friday night against the Syracuse Mets.
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