BUFFALO — The first-place Buffalo Bisons continued their hot hitting on Sunday and extended their win streak to three, as they beat Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 11-5 at Sahlen Field.
The Bisons didn’t wait long to continue their hot hitting. Nathan Lukes led off the Buffalo half of the first with a double that bounced off the left field wall. After an Ernie Clement groundout, Spencer Horwitz sent a ground ball through the infield that scored Lukes to make the score 1-0 Bisons, where it wouldn’t stay long.
Franchy Cordero started the top of the second inning with a walk. Then Carlos Narvaez singled, and then Jamie Westbrook doubled home Cordero. Next, Rodolfo Duran walked, and then Wilmer Difo grounded out to first but scored Narvaez. After that, Buffalo starter Zach Thompson squeezed out of trouble with two consecutive outs, but not before the RailRiders took the lead 2-1.
Ernie Clement tied the game back up at 2-2 in the bottom of the third with a soaring home run to left field.
The Bisons retook the lead an inning later when Rafael Lantigua singled home Davis Schneider, who had reached base with a leadoff single. T
Tyler Heineman doubled into the right-center field gap to score Lantigua, and the next batter, Mason McCoy, scorched a ground ball to third that the RailRiders’ Westbrook couldn’t handle, scoring Heineman. Before Lukes grounded out to second to end the inning, Buffalo had made the score 5-2.
The Bisons extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Clement started it with a double, and then Horwitz singled him home. Addison Barger walked shortly after, and then Orelvis Martinez smashed a ball over the center-field fence to make the score 9-2 Buffalo going into the sixth inning.
Scranton cut into the Buffalo lead with a Rodolfo Duran solo home run that made the score 9-3 in the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Buffalo slugger Schneider stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Schneider worked the count full and then walked, forcing in a run and pushing the pressure situation to Barger. Barger grounded into a fielder’s choice, but drove in another Buffalo run, making the score 11-3, before Martinez flew out to end the frame.
In the top of the seventh, Scranton’s Brandon Lockridge led the game off with a single, and then Estevan Florial hit a home run to cut into the Buffalo lead once again, making the score 11-5.
Westbrook homered in the top of the eighth to further cut into the Buffalo lead. Then Duran singled and Difo doubled, and then Lockridge singled them both home to make the score 11-8.
Buffalo enjoys an off-day on Monday, before heading on the road to play second-place Lehigh Valley in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
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