Christian Bethancourt homered and drove in three of the Herd’s four runs, but Buffalo fell in defeat to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 5-4, Sunday afternoon from PNC Field. With the RailRiders victory, the IL East Division rivals completed the six-game sweep of the Bisons as both teams head to the four-day All-Star break.
Scranton/Wilkes Barre would get the scoring started after a solo home run from Spencer James in the bottom of the first inning, but Buffalo answered quickly in the top of the second. Ali Sanchez singled to right and Rainer Nunez did the same, advancing Sanchez to third. Bethancourt stepped to the plate and delivered a sacrifice bunt to bring home Sanchez to tie the game at one run a piece.
The RailRiders scored two in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead over Buffalo. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre started the inning with back-to-back walks and both runners eventually crossed home plate from a drag bunt by Andrew Velazquez.
Buffalo once again was able to tie the game, this time in the top of the seventh inning, thanks to a two-run blast by Bethancourt. This home run marked his fifth of the season.
Bethancourt, who also doubled in the fifth, finished his strong performance 2-for-3 at the plate with two extra-base hits and three RBI.
Scranton/WB would once again regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh, answering the two runs scored by Buffalo in the top half of the inning by scoring two of their own. The RailRiders led off the inning with singles from Velazquez and Edison Duran. They duo then executed a double steal to into scoring position before being driven in on a single from Jesse Rodriguez.
The Herd cut the deficit in half in the eighth inning thanks to an RBI from Riley Tirotta. Alan Roden led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second a batter later from Yohendrick Pinango’s single to center. After Roden tagged and advanced to third, Tirotta grounded out to short to drive in Roden and cut the RailRiders lead to 5-4. Unfortunately, for the Herd, that’s how the game ended after Buffalo failed to score again in the ninth.
Hayden Juenger started for Buffalo and threw two innings, striking struck out three and retired six of the seven batters he faced. Lazaro Estrada was dealt the loss as he allowed three runs in four innings of relief.
Buffalo will be off until Friday evening due to the All-Star break but travel back home to face off against Omaha for a three-game set. The game can be heard on the Bisons Baseball Network, including The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy App, and Bisons.com starting at 6:15 p.m. with the ‘Voice of the Bisons’ Pat Malacaro and Duke McGuire.
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