Nolin shines in Herd's sixth straight win
Even though the Herd did a good amount of damage on the scoreboard, the real story came from the man on the hill.
Sean Nolin's shutout outing helped the Bisons earn its sixth straight win to top the Indianapolis Indians 7-1 Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Field.
Making his first Triple-A start since coming off the DL, Sean Nolin looked healthier as ever. The southpaw pitched six frames of shutout baseball in his first Bisons start since June 17th.
Nolin looked sharp to get his third win of the season. In his 76 pitches, Nolin hit the strike zone 45 times and fanned three Indians. The lefty even showed his defensive skills when he snagged a behind-the-back broken bat comebacker and threw out the runner at first to end the inning and a threatening baserunner at third.
"It was good to be back," Nolin said. "I don't really want to think about the injury. I just get on the mound and try to throw strikes. Its my third game back so I'm just trying to get all the rust off. "
Nolin has been out battling a groin injury since June. The southpaw has missed a total of 50 games due to two DL stints.
"I'm happy to be here," Nolin said. "It's definitely better than rehabbing in Florida."
The Bisons bullpen put in some good work on Tuesday night to keep the shutout for the Herd. Chad Jenkins came into the game in the seventh to throw a shutout inning. Ryan Tepera followed up with a shutout eighth and Steve Delabar closed the game out with a one-run ninth. The Herd has allowed just three runs after the fourth inning in their six-game win streak (30 innings)
On the opposite side of the ball, the Herd made it a long night for Indianapolis starter Adam Wilk. In his 22nd appearance with Indy The southpaw tossed six innings in which he allowed six runs off eight hits and allowed five free passes for Buffalo.
Kevin Pillar made Wilk pay for giving him a high fastball. After the Indians moved their infielders in for a double play ball, Pillar took Wilk yard. Pillar rocketed a high fastball that lined over the wall in left to push Buffalo out to a 2-0 lead after a Darin Mastoianni double to open up the game. The Indians starter has now allowed a homer in 13 of his last 21 starts.
Jonathan Diaz added to the Buffalo's lead when he cashed-in Jared Goedert from third. The shortstop hit a small dribbler that Wilk couldn't handle to plate Goedert.
The offense added to the lead throughout the game. The Herd added a run to the board with three consecutive hits to start the sixth inning. Four walks in the seventh tacked on two more and an Andy LaRoche home run in the eighth stretched the lead out to 7-0.
Buffalo will face Indianapolis in game two of its four game series tomorrow with P.J. Walters on the hill for the Herd and Nick Kingham on the mound for Indiapolis. Gates will open at six with first pitch at 7:05pm.
Bisons Notes:
Catcher Sean Ochinko has been promoted from Double-A New Hampshire. Ochinko played in 50 games for the Bisons last season and hit .220 with three homers and 17 RBI. The catcher missed 58 games this season with a concussion and hit .250 in six games with the Fisher Cats. Right-handed pitcher Bobby Korecky earned his team-leading 16th save of the year last night. His 41st appearance was also a team-high with another scoreless inning lowering his ERA to 0.69. Jonathan Diaz, Brad Glenn and Jared Goedert all had two hits along with an RBI on Tuesday night. During his eight-game hit streak, Jonathan Diaz is 12-27 with an average of .444.