One day after a workman-like victory over the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders, the Buffalo Bisons decided to lay a whooping on their opponent by a tune of 14-2.
The game was effectively over after the third inning, as the Herd scored 10 runs in that stanza of play – the first time Buffalo accomplished the feat in 10 years (April 2013 at Syracuse to be exact) and the first time the Bisons pulled it off at home since 2001. It was also just the third time in the modern era of the franchise that they had scored 10 runs in one inning.
At first, it didn’t seem that way. Estevan Florial hit the first pitch of the game out of the park to right centerfield to put Scranton up 1-0 and the RailRiders instantly had momentum on their side.
That didn’t last long, however. Scranton’s inning from hell started when Luis De Los Santos notched an RBI single to tie the game and Orelvis Martinez gave the Bisons the lead with a run batted in of his own. Then Rafael Lantigua grabbed a two-run RBI double and Tanner Morris picked up a two-run double of his own.
Cameron Eden picked up another RBI double, De Los Santos walked with the bases loaded and Martinez hit a bases-clearing double to finish off the scoring in the third.
To conclude the scoring on the day, Davis Schneider smacked a solo home run in the fifth and later picked up an RBI double, and Morris picked up his fifth hit of the game (going five-for-five in the process) on a two-run homer to rightfield in the seventh. Carlos Naraez scored Austin Wells on a sac fly in the eighth for Scranton.
Having gone 14-8 in the second half of the year, the Bisons’ driving factor in their success has been their offense. Scoring 150 runs in 22 games (an eye-popping 6.8 runs per game) isn’t sustainable over the long haul, but the Herd have been hot at the plate for good reasons, according to Morris.
“I think one through nine, we have nine hitters in our lineup that can battle and we work counts pretty well,” Morris said. “On days that we’re facing a top-line starter, we’ve gotten those guys out of the game pretty quickly and attacked their bullpens quicker. If you’re looking at our lineup, I would guess the average hitter in our lineup is seeing four pitches or more per at bat, and that’s a lot on a pitcher to be able to handle a lineup like that.”
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