STAFF REPORTS
The Bisons dropped the first of a four game series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 8-1, on Friday night at Coca-Cola Field. The Railriders’ three-run third inning was enough to seal the victory for the visitors in front of a solid home crowd of 10,836.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Wilkin Castillo doubled on a line drive to right field past Shane Opitz to kick off the successful inning. After a Tyler Wade walk, Dustin Fowler batted his 17th double of the season to center field to score the duo on base and give the Railriders the only runs they needed to secure the win. Rounding out the inning was a Ji-Man Choi sac fly towards Bisons centerfielder Ian Parmley to score Fowler for a 3-0 advantage.
After stretching their lead to 4-0 with a Tyler Wade double to score Donovan Solano in the fourth, the Railriders went into overdrive to bat in four more runs. After three consecutive singles from Wade, Fowler, and Tyler Austin respectively, Clint Frazier knocked his 12th home run out of the park on an 0-1 pitch from Murphy Smith to give the Railriders their largest lead of the night at 8-1.
Buffalo’s lone run of the evening came in the fifth inning after a Parmley double to left field. On the ensuing at bat, Gregorio Petit drove in a single to right field to trim the Herd’s deficit to 4-1.
Luis Santos (2-6, 4.47 ERA) got the start for the Bisons and pitched five complete innings, allowing four runs off of five hits in that span. Impressively, the righty had 10 strikeouts before he retired from the mound. Murphy Smith came in relief for a pair of innings, allowing four runs off of six hits. John Stilson closed out the game for the Herd with a single hit to his name.
Buffalo returns to action tomorrow evening for a double header with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. First pitch for game one is set for 5:35 p.m. with Mike Bolsinger (2-1, 1.17 ERA) pitching for the Herd. Righty Lucas Harrell (0-0, 1.59 ERA) will get the start for the second game of the evening.
BISONS NOTES: The last time that a Herd pitcher threw 10 strikeouts and lost the game was Matt Harvey on June 14, 2012…The Bisons had only three hits on the night despite leaving 12 runners on base.
