STAFF REPORTS
The Bisons didn’t have many hits against Syracuse’s Tommy Milone, but all of them were loud!
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gift Ngoepe each clubbed two-run home runs to lead Buffalo to their sixth straight victory, 5-4, over the Chiefs on Tuesday evening from Coca-Cola Field.
The Herd had just six bases runners all night, but all six came via extra base hits. The first four were in the second inning as Gurriel Jr. followed Danny Jansen‘s double with a screamer into the netting over the left field wall.
Two batters later, Jason Leblebijian doubled to left-center before being cashed in on Ngoepe’s first homer as a Bison.
Ngoepe then used the same alley to plate the eventual game-winning run. With Reese McGuire on with a double, Ngoepe tripled to the gap to give Buffalo a 5-2 lead in the seventh.
While all six of those hits were crushed, that was all the Herd could do against Milone. Between the two rallies, the Syracuse lefty retired 15 in a row. He struck out nine in the first complete game against the Herd this season.
The win for Buffalo went to right Connor Fisk, who was brilliant in relief of starter Luis Santos. Fisk threw four hitless innings, striking out three and benefitting from some great plays in the field behind him.
In the fifth, Gurriel Jr. started an inning-ending doubleplay by scooping and shoveling a grounder with his glove in one motion. A frame later, the second baseman raced deep behind the bag to field a Jacob Wilson grounder before throwing the first basemen out.
After Wilson, Herd-killer Irving Falu blooper a ball into right field that was caught by a diving Anthony Alford just before it hit the ground.
Santos allowed two runs over three innings in his start but needed 56 pitches to do so, limiting his outing. Sam Moll and Justin Shafer closed out the win with Shafer picking up his second save in as many appearances with the Herd.
The Bisons are now 6-0 against the Chiefs this year, a record they will look to add to on Wednesday night with a 6:05 p.m. first pitch against Syracuse.
