RECORDS fall in 27-9 Bisons win
On paper, the Bisons have one of the best offenses in the international league. That's exactly where the 2013 Herd wound up on Thursday in Syracuse…on paper…in the record books.
The final tally was 27-9 as Buffalo completed a four-game sweep of the Chiefs from NBT Bank Stadium with a game that will be remembered as one of the most impressive performances in the 128-year history of the club.
The records came fast and furious all afternoon.
Jim Negrych became the first Bisons player since 2010 to hit for the cycle. The Buffalo-native was 4-7 with a walk, capping his cycle with a solo home run in the sixth inning. The day increased his average to .515 -the top mark in all of affiliated baseball. The last Bisons player to hit for the cycle was also a second baseman, Justin Turner on September 6, 2010 in Rochester.
Moises Sierra had six hits and fell a home run away from joining Negrych in the cycle parade. He had two hits in the seventh inning to become just the third Bisons players in 77 years to record six hits in the game. Turner had six with his cycle while Howard "Butch" Myers went 6-6 on June 29, 1936 in Rochester.
The Herd scored 10 runs in that seventh inning Sierra started with a hit. That matched the modern era record as Buffalo also scored 10 in the third inning of a 14-0 win on May 6, 2001 against Richmond. The frame included the second of two home runs from Ryan Langerhans on the day and then a three-run blast for Luis Jimenez.
Not to be overshadowed, Jimenez drove home eight runs, the most in a game since Dusty Wathan drove home nine with his three-homer game on June 5, 2005 in Toledo. He went 5-7 at the plate and was one of four Bisons batters to score at least four runs. Sierra and Langerhans scored five times, matching Brett Abernathy's (June 19, 2004 vs. Indianapolis) modern era record.
And scoring is just what the Herd did…A LOT. Five runs in the first and fourth innings. A three-run rally preceded the record-matching 10- run seventh. With four more runs in the ninth frame, Buffalo set modern era records for 27 runs on 29 hits. The run total bested a 25-13 victory for the Herd on April 29, 2004 in Rochester and the 26-hit output from the club on April 18, 1985 in Indianapolis. The 18 runs was Buffalo's largest margin of victory in the modern era, two runs better than a 17-1 win over Toledo on July 17 of last year.
The International League reports that the 27 runs on 29 hits are both records in the circuit over the last 40 years. The Bisons greatest win in 128 years of the team was a 33-6 win over Providence on July 26, 1902.
Joining Negrych, Sierra and Jimenez with big days was Josh Thole, who went 4-6 with four RBI. Langerhans was 3-6 with six RBI. The Bisons had 13 extra-base hits, including their first five-homer game since June 28, 2010 at Charlotte.
Buffalo is now 8-4 on the season and will look to take all the offense to Lehigh Valley tomorrow for the start of a four-game set against the IronPigs.
BISONS NOTES: The Bisons completed their first four-game sweep on the road since winning four straight in Pawtucket, August 16-19, 2004…The 36 combined runs are the second-most in the modern era behind a 25-13 victory over Rochester on April 30, 2004…After the 29 hits, Buffalo is now hitting .333 as a team…Bobby Korecky improved to 2-0 with three innings of two-run relief.