STAFF REPORTS
What can you say when every diving catch you see from Jonathan Davis is the best you’ve ever seen… until you see another one!
The man that has amazed Bisons and baseball fans regularly throughout the 2019 season did it yet again Monday night. Davis made a full-extension diving grab in the seventh inning that saved two runs and preserved the Herd’s 5-4 victory over the Rochester Red Wings at Sahlen Field.
Buffalo had a 5-2 lead heading into the top half of the seventh, but the Wings mounted a comeback against rehabbing Blue Jays reliever, Ryan Tepera. Two runs were already in and two more were waiting on base when Ronald Torreyes turned on a pitch and smashed a line drive destined for the left field corner. Davis raced to his right and made a full-extension dive, snagging the ball with his entire body parallel to the ground.
The crowd continued to buzz well after the Davis catch, which almost seemed to seal the Herd’s second consecutive victory. Rochester didn’t put another runner on base the rest of the game as Jackson McLelland and Travis Bergen retired the Wings in order in both the eighth and ninth innings respectively.
The Herd scored all their runs early in the contest, erasing a 1-0 first-inning deficit. Nash Knight collected his first career Triple-A hit and RBI when he ripped a two-out double into the left field corner to score Beau Taylor from first. Roemon Fields followed with a single through the right side of the infield to put the Bisons up 2-1.
Buffalo then scored three in the third to open up a big lead. Anthony Alford hit a single so sharply into left that it skipped past Red Wings fielder Brandon Barnes, allowing Socrates Brito to score from first. Taylor followed with an RBI-double into right and Santiago Espinal added another run-scoring hit to put the Herd up, 5-1.
The win for Buffalo went to Matt Dermody, who retired nine of 11 batters in relief of Thomas Pannone. Pannone got off to a rough start, walking four of the first five batters before recovering to pick up four strikeouts in the next three scoreless innings.
With three home games left in the season, the Bisons will host the Red Wings again Tuesday night for the club’s annual Mystery Ball night with post game fireworks. TICKETS
