BUFFALO – The Buffalo Bisons extended their win streak to five games as they won a back-and-forth battle against the Indianapolis Indians by a score of 8-5 on Friday night at Sahlen Field in downtown Buffalo.
Indianapolis didn’t waste any time getting the scoring started this game as Canaan Smith-Njigba made it a 1-0 game in the top of the first inning with his sharp double to center, scoring Jared Triolo.
The Bisons wouldn’t allow the Indians to hold onto that lead for long though as Luis De Los Santos singled on a line drive to center, scoring Tanner Morris and making the ballgame tied at 1-1. This is De Los Santos’ 33rd RBI of the season.
Malcom Nunez gave the Indians the lead once again in the top of the third inning as he singled to shortstop, scoring Triolo and Smith-Njigba to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Buffalo got the lead in a big and loud way in the bottom of the third inning as Orelvis Martinez hammered a ball over the center field wall, scoring Rafael Lantigua and Addison Barger for a three-run home run, 4-3 Herd lead. This is Martinez’s seventh home run of the season and his third three-run homer.
This back-and-forth affair kept on going into the fourth inning as Aaron Shackelford doubled in the top of the inning, scoring Ryan Vilade, knotting the game at 4-4. The scoring didn’t stop there for the Indians this inning as Nick Gonzales hit a sacrifice fly long enough to score Shackelford from third base, 5-4.
The momentum of this game shifted once again in the bottom of the fourth inning as Nathan Lukes made it a tie game once again with a single to right field, scoring Cameron Eden, 5-5. The Bisons took the lead once again as Lantigua singled on a line drive to right field, allowing Lukes to reach home and make the score 6-5.
The Herd tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Jamie Ritchie grounded out to the second baseman, allowing Martinez to reach home safely from third base and giving the Bisons a 7-5 lead heading into the home stretch of the game.
Lukes racked up his second RBI of the game as he doubled to left in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring Cameron Eden from second to make it a 8-5 Bisons lead late in the game.
These two teams will meet again on Saturday night to play the fifth game of this six-game set with a 6:05 p.m. scheduled first pitch. RHP Wes Parsons will be on the mound for the Herd and RHP Jared Jones gets nod for the Indians.
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