Romero earns first win as Bisons drop Chiefs, 6-2
A one hour and 27 minute delay did not stop Ricky Romero from achieving a first this season.
Romero earned his first win of the year and struck out a season-high seven hitters as the Bisons beat Syracuse 6-2 Tuesday night at NBT Stadium in Syracuse, NY.
The late start to the night did not affect Romero as the southpaw threw seven solid innings for the Herd. He allowed two runs on six hits while walking just two.
The left-hander finally got the run support he needed and now has earned a quality start in three straight and five of his last six outings. He lasted seven innings for the second time this season and improved to 1-3 with a 6.15 ERA.
The Herd offense got going in the middle innings, scoring two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take some of the pressure off of Romero.
Brett Lawrie hit his first home run to put the Herd up 5-1 in the top of the sixth.
Lawrie is on a rehab stint for the Blue Jays after injuring his ankle in May. He joined the Herd today after playing three games with Double-A New Hampshire and two with Single-A Dunedin and Lansing.
The second baseman went 2-for-4 with three RBI's and a run scored on the night.
Outfielder Kevin Pillar singled to lead off the game for the Bisons and has now reached base in all 19 games he has played since joining the Herd. Pillar later scored to give the Bisons a 1-0 on a single from Lawrie.
The West Hills, CA native finished another stellar night going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Syracuse tied the game at one in the bottom of the second inning. Romero hit leadoff man Corey Brown, who then stole second base. Two batters later with one out, Will Rhymes grounded out to second base and Brown scored from third to even the score.
Eugenio Velez reached base on a throwing error by Chiefs shortstop Zach Walters and advanced to second base to lead off the top of the fifth. Mike McCoy bunted Velez over to third on the sacrifice and Anthony Gose followed up with a double to left field to give the Herd a 2-1 lead with one out in the fifth.
Gose was caught stealing at third, but Mike Nickeas doubled to center field. Pillar singled on a line drive to center, scoring Nickeas just before Pillar was thrown out at second for the third out of the inning and the Bisons went ahead 3-1 after five and a half.
Pillar got his third hit of the game with a triple to center field. Ryan Goins drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field to increase the Bisons lead to 6-1 in the seventh.
Rhymes hit a solo home run off of Romero to lead off the bottom of the seventh and cut the Bisons lead to 6-2.
Reliever John Stilson closed out the game for the Herd, throwing two innings without allowing a hit while striking out two.
Bisons Notes:The Bisons have now won three-straight games against Syracuse…Buffalo also snapped Syracuse's five-game home win streak…Ricky Romero made his 12th start for the Bisons…Brett Lawrie and Clint Robinson made their Bisons debut tonight…Robinson was called up from Double-A New Hampshire today…It was announced today that Herd infielder Mauro Gomez will participate in the 2013 Triple-A all-star home run derby on July 15 in Reno, NV…Luis Jimenez has been put on the disabled list...Former Bisons outfielders Dave Roberts and Ernie Young and Buffalo News columnist/reporter Mike Harrington were elected to the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame today…A formal induction ceremony will be held before the Bisons Friday night bash on July 19 when Buffalo hosts Toledo.