By: Andrew Mullane
The Buffalo Bisons took on the St.Paul Saints tonight at Sahlen's Felid in Buffalo. The Bisons won 4-1. The theme of the night here at Sahlen's felid was Hawilian theme.
The first inning of play would start with Zach Thompson on the pitching mound for the Bisons and he faced 6 batters and walked two hitters. The bases were loaded but St.Paul could not capitalize and the Bisons would escape the inning. On the flip side Randy Dobnak started on the mound for the Saints. The Bisons started the game with Rafael Lantigua hitting a base hit. A couple nice hits for the Bisons but they ultimately did not score. In the second inning Zach Thompson started the inning with a strikeout. A quick 1, 2, 3, inning for the Bisons. The Saints quickly got two outs on a bunt from Otto Lopez, and a bounce out from L.J. Talley. A double from Cameron Eden proved not to matter as the Saints got a 6-3 out right after. Going to the third inning the Bisons got two outs fast. Matt Wallner got out on a 4-3 and the Bisons tagged Jose Miranda running to second base. Zach Thompson struck out Trevor Larch who got caught swinging and missing. Going to the bottom of the third inning the Bisons Tanner Morris hit a home run (359ft) to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead.
The fourth inning would be a quick 1, 2, 3, inning as St.Paul just couldn't get anything going hitting two pop outs. The Bisons only sent three hitters to the plate and could not get anything going. Going to the fifth Inning the Saints sent 4 hitters to the plate and they did not score. The Bisons Davis Schneider scored off a hit by Wynton Bernard to give the Bisons a 2-0 lead. St.Paul changed pitchers to Austin Schuffer ending Randy Dobnak's day. The sixth Inning of play would start with the Saints Kyle Garlick hitting a home run to the right side of the felid. The Bisons Cameron Eden hit another double. Rafael Lantigua hit a ground rule double leading to Eden scoring to give the Bisons a 3-1 lead.
The seventh inning would see Mark Contreras and Tony Walters of the Saints hitting singles but the Bisons got a rare triple play. The Bisons Spencer Horwitz scored off a base hit by Rob Brantley to give the Bisons a 4-1 lead. The eighth inning for the Saints was a quick 1,2,3 as they could not get anything going. The Bisons Davis Schneider hit a base hit, but they could not capitalize. The ninth inning of play would conclude as the Saints did not get anything going.
After the game Manager Casey Candaele said "Zach Thompson came out great and got us out of a jam" talking about the first Inning when St.Paul loaded the bases and did not score. Candaele also mentioned the triple play that helped his team win "It was huge if we don't catch the ball they got first and third and we are only up by one run so the way that transpired and turned the game around was huge and they weren't running there we don't get the triple play that was huge the ability to get out of a inning with one pitch is rare and its kinda cool to see."