The Bisons bats came alive in Georgia this weekend with the Herd earning a series split with an absolute onslaught on Sunday afternoon at Coolray Field.
L.J. Talley was a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate and Spencer Horwitz drove in six as Buffalo buffaloed the Gwinnett Stripers, 21-9, to close out the first half of their two-week roadtrip. Davis Schneider added a home run and four RBI as the Bisons pounded out 21 hits on their way to their biggest offensive output since the end of the 2021 season.
All told, the Bisons scored in six different innings on Sunday and batted around twice. They sent nine men to the plate in third inning, scoring five times and building an 8-1 lead. They then doubled their total in the run column with an eight-run, 13-batter fifth inning during which both Talley and Rafael Lantigua collected a single AND a double before the frame was complete. Schneider’s three-run home run capped the Bisons other big inning, a four-run eighth inning that put the game away.
Buffalo reached 20 in the run and hit columns for the first time since September 15, 2021 when they defeated the Red Wings, 20-3, with 23 hits at then-Frontier Field.
Talley’s perfect day at the plate was just the third 6-for-6 day in the Bisons modern era, matching Justin Turner in 2010 and outfielder Moises Sierra in Buffalo’s historic 27-9 win on April 18, 2013 in Syracuse. Talley’s performance was also the first 6-hit game in the International League since Sierra’s. The last Bisons batter to have five or more hits in a game was… L.J. Talley… who had five knocks on August 30 of last year in Worcester.
The infielder started his big day in the second inning with an infield single to first base, beating Stripers pitcher Michael Soroka to the bag. In the third, he took advantage of Gwinnett covering the second base bag to ground a single through shortstop and into left field to score a run. Talley then hit an opposite field RBI-double and a two-run opposite field single in the eight-run fifth.
Hit #5 was a rope single down the right field line and his sixth hit -his fourth opposite field hit of the day- came in the ninth with another double to left field.
Along with Talley, five other Bisons had multi-hit performances on Sunday and eight of the nine batters in the lineup reached base at least twice. Spencer Horwitz went 4-5 with six RBI, raising his average on the season to .299. He had an RBI groundout in the second, a two-run double in the third, a two-run single in the fifth and another run-scoring single in the eighth.
Davis Schneider drove in four and scored three times. He hit the Bisons lone homer in the game, a three-run blast to center in the eighth inning, and has now driven in eight in his last three games.
Rafael Lantigua finished the game 3-6 with a double, two RBI and four runs scored.
The victory for Buffalo went to Casey Lawrence, who absorbed Gwinnett’s efforts to keep pace with the Herd with seven runs over five innings of work. Lawrence struck out five and didn’t issue a walk for his first win of the season.
The Bisons will now head north for the start of a six-game series in Worcester on Tuesday before returning to Buffalo for 12 straight home games starting May 9.
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