LeBlanc is l'homme in Bisons 3-0 win
As the summer continues to heat up, so does Wade LeBlanc.
Buffalo's veteran lefty fired 6.1 innings of scoreless ball Saturday night, mixing in five strikeouts to earn his team-leading fifth win of the year in the Herd's 3-0 victory in Toledo.
The 31-year-old threw 90 pitches and allowed just four hits before making way in the seventh for Bo Schultz, who came on in a leverage situation as part of his rehab assignment.
The Blue Jays' reliever hit 98 miles per hour on the gun before inducing a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame.
LeBlanc, now 4-0 on the road, has gone five consecutive starts without allowing an earned run -- a stretch of 33 innings.
The other half of the battle between two of the International League's top-five ERA starters was performed fairly well by Thad Weber.
But the Bisons got to Toledo's starter in the second inning as Jesus Montero and Darrell Ceciliani hit back-to-back singles to start the frame. Matt Dominguez then scorched a liner off of the wall in left-center field to bring home both runners, putting the Herd up 2-0.
Ceciliani went on to have his first three-hit game of 2016, finishing just a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle.
Weber went a full seven innings, giving up only the pair of runs while spreading out eight hits and three walks. The right-hander got himself out of a few jams, ultimately leaving eight Bisons on base.
The Herd capped the scoring with a lone run in the ninth off of reliever Logan Kensing.
A.J. Jimenez ripped a ground ball through the left side of the infield for a single and moved to second on a fielding error by second baseman Argenis Diaz. Andy Burns then cashed him in with an odd-looking double.
Buffalo's infielder squeaked a hit just inside the bag at third that Casey McGehee gave up on, as he thought the ball was fouled off of the foot of Burns. McGehee and the Mud Hens argued the hit to no avail, and the Bisons took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Ryan Tepera then used a double-play and a strikeout to complete the shutout. He fired 2.0 innings of one-hit relief to earn his fifth save of the season.
BISONS NOTES:
Wade LeBlanc, now at 62.2 innings, reclaimed his International League lead from teammate Scott Diamond…Jesus Montero extended his hit streak to eight games and is now the lone member of the Herd to be batting above the .300 mark at .302…Every Bisons batter reached base safely Saturday evening…A.J. Jimenez stopped both Toledo attempts to steal a base off of him and has now caught 11 of 35 this year.