Mier's walk-off single caps Herd's 6-5 win
The Bisons walked-off in the bottom of the ninth Friday night against the Pawtucket Red Sox, thanks to an infield RBI single by Jio Mier. The Herd's 6-5 win puts the team back at the .500 mark for the first time since April 14.
The Herd led 5-1 heading into the top of the eighth, before the Red Sox rallied off reliever Bo Schultz. Catcher Dan Butler plated a pair with a RBI double. Ryan LaMarre then drove home Butler with a single to make it a one-run game. Chris Dominguez silenced the Buffalo crowd in the ninth inning, tying the ballgame up at five with a solo home run off Schultz. Though he allowed four runs, Schultz picks up his first win of the season.
Entering the game hitting .165, Jio Mier sent Bisons' fans home happy in the ninth, scoring pinch-runner Alexi Casilla with a one-out, infield hit to third base.
"Sometimes the most important thing you can do is put the ball in play," manager Gary Allenson said postgame.
"I was just trying to put the ball in play. Luckily the ball went in our favor," Mier said after his walk-off.
With the score tied at one in the bottom of the sixth, Andy Burns sent home Junior Lake and Jio Mier with a two-run single. In the next at bat, Jesus Montero added to his team lead in RBI, bringing home Dalton Pompey and Burns with a double to the left centerfield gap.
A no-doubt home run for Chris Marrero put Pawtucket up 1-0 in the first. Matt Dominguez brought home Dalton Pompey with a RBI single in the fifth inning to tie the game at one. The Bisons left runners on first and second in both the third and fourth innings against PawSox starter Henry Owens, before finally getting a run across in the fifth. The five walks the Bisons drew against Owens are the most they've managed against an opposing starter this year.
"We didn't do much off Owens, because obviously he's a good pitcher," Allenson said, "He didn't give us much, but a key for us was getting him out after five innings. After that we did a pretty good job."
Drew Hutchison, coming in to the game in search of not only his first win of the season, but of his Triple-A career, pitched effectively on Friday. After allowing the Marrero home run, Hutchison granted just one hit over the next six innings, finishing with a line of one run, two walks, and four strikeouts. However, the bullpen failed to hold his lead, stretching his winless streak at Triple-A to 14 starts over parts of three seasons.
In his second game of his rehab stint with the Bisons, Devon Travis went hitless in five at bats. Travis came through with a big game on Thursday, going 3-4 with two RBI.
Jio Mier also provided some defensive highlights at shortstop. In the seventh Mier made a strong throw in the hole to retire leadoff hitter Chris Marrero. To end the eighth inning, Mier caught a line drive at short, after which Ryan LaMarre was doubled off at first. Pawtucket manager Kevin Boles was ejected following some confusion as to the correct call on the play.
"He was Derek Jeter on one play," Allenson said of Mier's seventh inning throw. "He's done an excellent job defensively for us."
"They were plays that I feel need to be made, especially playing short," Mier said. "If I'm not going to get hits, I'm going to do the best I can to take them away."
Game three of the Bisons' four-game series with the Red Sox will see Scott Diamond face off against Pawtucket's Sean O'Sullivan. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 at Coca-Cola Field.
BISONS NOTES:
Dalton Pompey slid into first for an infield single in the eighth inning, and added two walks, increasing his hit streak to 10 games… Junior Lake picked up three hits for the second time in three days, and his intentional walk in the ninth is the first for a Buffalo batter this season… Though he failed to record a win, Drew Hutchison continues his streak of starts of five innings or more, pushing his number of such starts to six in a row. His outing on Friday is his longest of the season… The Bisons have scored 19 runs in the last three games, after having scored 19 runs in their previous nine games combined.