Worcester, M.A. – Michael Stefanic hit a pair of two-run home runs that helped the Buffalo Bisons stage a late-game 10-6 comeback victory over the Worcester Red Sox on Saturday afternoon at Polar Park.
Buffalo on the board right away in the top of the first inning after Will Wagner led off the game with a single, then Stefanic hit his first home run of the game that gave the Bisons a 2-0 advantage after just two batters stepping up to bat.
Worcester was able to answer back in the second inning when Vaughn Grissom led off the inning with a double, then Nathan Hickey singled to score Grissom which made it 2-1.
In the top of the third inning Josh Rivera led off the inning with a single for Buffalo followed by a Will Wagner walk, both runners were able to advance into scoring position. With two outs and on a 3-1 count Riley Tirotta singled both of them home which extended the Bisons lead to 4-1.
Bisons Starter CJ Van Eyk was able to make it through his first three innings only allowing one run but in the fourth inning he ran into some trouble after Vaughn Grissom and Trayce Thompson hit back to back homeruns for the Red sox to lead off the inning, which narrowed Buffalo’s lead to one, 4-3.
Just a few batters later Corey Rosier hit a two run home run which gave Worcester their first lead of the night at 5-4. Van Eyk was relieved in the fifth inning by Kevin Gowdy with runners on first and third, a sacrifice fly added another run and made it 6-4 Worcester.
Buffalo’s offense came back alive in the top of the seventh after Rainer Nunez led off with a single, he advanced to second via a sac bunt by Christian Bethancourt. Rivera recorded his second hit of the night with an RBI double cutting the lead to one.
Two batters later it was Stefanic belting his second home run of the game and giving the Bisons the 7-6 advantage. In the eighth and ninth inning the Bisons added three more runs, two off wild pitches in the eighth and one off an error in the ninth.
The Bisons bullpen was strong all afternoon, allowing no runs off only one hit with scoreless outings coming from Kevin Gowdy, Ryan Burr, Dillon Tate, and Trenton Wallace. Burr received the win for Buffalo, his first of the year.
The Bisons are set to take on the WooSox for their final game of the six game series tomorrow at Polar Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. with Lazaro Estrada set to start for Buffalo. The game can be heard on The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy App and Bisons.com starting at 12:45 p.m.
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