BUFFALO, NY – Casey Lawrence logged the first quality start of the season, but it was not enough as the Herd dropped the first game of the series to the Saint Paul Saints 9-1 Tuesday night at Sahlen Field.
St. Paul got things rolling early with a Jose Miranda single to centerfield to give them a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning. Miranda knocked in Andrew Stephenson after Stephenson reached on an error. Miranda’s RBI single came off Casey Lawrence and was his sixth RBI of the season.
In his Major League rehab start, Kenta Maeda struck out the side in order in the first inning. Maeda tossed one more strikeout in his second inning of work to cap off a scoreless appearance.
In the top of the fourth inning, a Matt Wallner broken bat groundout nearly hit Lawrence, as the head of the bat came just inches from the right hander. Lawrence was able to avoid the shrapnel to roll off his third straight scoreless inning in a row.
In the top of the sixth inning, Wallner doubled on a sharp line drive to right field. Mark Contreras came up to bat with two-outs and had a base knock to left field, extending the Saint’s lead on the Herd to 2-0.
Lawrence shined in his 11th start of the season, as he hurled six innings while allowing just one earned run, good for the Bisons first quality start of the season. Lawrence notched three strikeouts with just one walk in his outing.
In the bottom of the seventh inning Otto Lopez drove in Wynton Bernard with a ground ball through the left side to plate the Bisons first run of the game, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Saints.
In the top of the eighth inning, Miranda came around to score on a Wallner triple to deep right field, extending St. Paul’s lead to 3-1. Hernan Perez would add to the Saint’s lead later in the inning with a single to score Wallner, extending the Saint’s advantage 4-1.
In the top of the ninth inning with the bases loaded, Miranda singled to center field to score two runs, making the score 6-1 in favor of the Saint’s. Two pitches later, Wallner hit the first, and only, home run of the game to score three, bolstering the Saint’s to a 9-1 lead.
The Bisons will face-off against the Saints again tomorrow at Sahlen Field at 1:05 p.m. Bowden Francis is set to square off against former Toronto Blue Jay All-Star Aaron Sanchez.
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