STAFF REPORTS
Ryan Feierabend worked seven strong innings and Bo Bichette had three more hits to lead the Bisons to a 7-1 victory over the Mets, Saturday night from NBT Bank Stadium. The win puts the Herd’s record at 45-42 with one final game Sunday before the team hits the three-day All-Star break.
In his best start with the Bisons since joining the team in early May, Feierabend allowed just one run on three hits over seven innings of work. The knuckleballer also struck out five while yielding just two walks to improve to 5-4 on the season with Buffalo.
Feierabend set to the tone early, retiring the first nine batters he faced with a strikeout in each of the first three innings of the game. After that string was broken with back-to-back singles from Rajai Davis and Ruben Tejada to start the fourth, Feierabend was able to limit the damage by getting former Bisons’ infielder Danny Espinosa to hit in a doubleplay.
From that point on, Feierabend allowed just one more hit on the night. He closed out his outing by getting Gregor Blanco to hit into a doubleplay to end the seventh.
The Bisons offense again ran through the top of their order as Bichette had three more hits, including his 12th double of the season. He led off the game with a single and then had another hit two batters after Alen Hansen’s single in the top half of the third. Socrates Brito followed with an RBI-double to right field to open the game’s scoring and Patrick Kivlehan made it 3-0 with a grounder through the left side that scored both Bichette and Brito.
Bichette’s ground rule double came in the ninth inning as he skipped one over the wall in right field. It’s Bichette’s third three-hit game in his current seven-game hit streak. Since June 30, the Blue Jays’ top prospect has averaged .469 (15-32).
The Bisons put away a 3-1 game with a four-run eighth inning. Kivlehan drove in his third run of the game when he followed Brito’s second double on the night with another single. Richard Urenaand Reese McGuire loaded the bases with a hit and walk respectively and Andy Burns brought everybody home with a double down the left field line.
Thanks to Feierabend’s great start, the Bisons only needed one other pitcher to close out the win. Zach Jackson struck out three over two scoreless innings to seal the victory.
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