By: Brayden Peters
BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo Bisons went to town at the plate, allowing them to pick up the last win in the series against the Rochester Red Wings, 5-1. The Bisons wouldn’t have been so efficient on offense if it wasn’t for Rochester native Ernie Clement. Clement had a day at the plate, racking up three hits, two RBI, and a run.
“He’s been doing it all year,” said Casey Candaele, manager for the Bisons. “When you’re hitting around .360, you’re getting hits just about every day. He puts together good at-bats and he’s having a tremendous year.”
Clement didn’t really get going until the third inning. Addison Barger helped get the Bisons on the board first with an RBI in the first. When the third inning came around, though, Clement hit a big home run to help extend Buffalo’s lead to two runs.
The Red Wings would then put a dent into the Bisons' lead with Travis Blankenhorn recording his second triple of the year and Jake Noll bringing him in to score on a sac fly. Buffalo’s defense was too much for them, though, as Addison Barger helped record two flyouts in the fourth. He managed to record another flyout in the sixth as well.
Candaele was impressed by Barger’s performance in the outfield. “He’s still a combination infielder and now he’s learning the outfield and he’s done a good job progressing and learning quickly out there.”
By the seventh, Buffalo was running away with the game. Tanner Morris and Jamie Ritchie both recorded doubles, in which Ritchie’s hit scored Morris. Mason McCoy and Cameron Eden picked up RBIs to help extend Buffalo’s lead to four runs. Clement recorded his last hit of the game in that inning that went for a single.
Clement has always enjoyed playing against Rochester. “I grew up watching and listening to the Red Wings,” said Clement. “I talked with Josh Whetzel the other day, their play-by-play guy, and it’s just so cool because I used to listen to him as a kid. To go up against the Red Wings, it’s always special.”
His hometown team would have appreciated it, though, if he didn’t cause problems for their defense today. The Red Wings did make some solid plays throughout the game, like the double play they had in the fourth inning, but their pitching could not find any way to prevent Buffalo’s batters from hitting the ball. Tommy Romero, who got the start at pitcher for the Red Wings, gave up two runs and five hits while recording two walks and two strikeouts. Romero wasn’t the only pitcher for Rochester that was having problems.
Daniel Mengden struggled when he came in to relieve Anthony Banda. He gave up four hits and three runs while recording no strikeouts. Strikeouts have been an issue for Rochester as they are ranked last in Triple-A in strikeouts going into the game. They were one of the only teams below one-hundred strikeouts.
Rochester’s defense not only had issues. Their offense recorded only two hits, which all came from Travis Blankenhorn. They couldn’t get much going at all during the game as all the Bisons pitchers had at least one strikeout with Andrew Bash leading the group with five.
“We got to keep working and grinding and hopefully turn this around, but it seems like we’re digging ourselves a bigger and bigger hole,” said Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy. “Hopefully our bats will be better. We just got to put it all together. We have to have good pitching and good defense and good hitting.”
Buffalo ends the series 4-1 and is now 24-19. Buffalo will go on the road to take on the Syracuse Mets starting August 22. The Mets are at the bottom of the standings for the International League East in ninth place with a 16-27 record.
With Rochester’s fourth straight loss, they fall to 20-24 on the year. Rochester will play at home to face off against the Worcester Red Sox on August 22, who are third in the International League East with a 24-19 record. The starting pitchers for the Bisons and Red Wings are to be determined.
Great article! Wonderful insight from Mr. Peters, definitely knows his stuff!
Very nice piece, enjoyed reading this viewpoint and have to keep the bats hot to give their mediocre pitching a chance to get more wins. Go Bisons!