Bisons lose 13-10 thanks to more late offense by St. Paul on Thursday

St. Paul, MN – The Buffalo Bisons led for the majority of the night, but more late offense from the St. Paul Saints resulted in a 13-10 walk-off victory for the Saints on Thursday night at CHS Field. It was the second straight night St. Paul was able to walk-off against the Bisons.

Buffalo scored first, right away in the top of the first inning. Will Wagner collected his fourth RBI with the team thanks to a single that scored Joey Loperfido. That gave the Bisons a 1-0 lead. They extended the advantage to 2-0 on a Riley Tirotta RBI double in the top of the second inning. The extra-base hit was the third straight of the inning for Buffalo, as well.

However, St. Paul would score twice in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at two. Ryan Fitzgerald’s first of two hits of the night was a two-run home run with one out that scored Will Holland. Fitzgerald’s fourth home run of the season evened the score 2-2 after three innings.

The Bisons would score the next four runs to re-take the lead, 6-2, midway through the game. Loperfido drove in his 20^th RBI of the year, and sixth of the series, with a two-out base hit that scored Micheal Stefanic. A three-run home run by Ali Sanchez ballooned Buffalo’s lead out to four runs in the top of the fifth inning.

The Saints answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to get within one run, 6-5. Holland’s one out home run to left field trimmed the deficit to 6-4. That was followed several batters later by a two-out RBI base hit from Carson McCusker, cutting the Bisons lead to just a run.

Once again, the Bisons scored in the top of the sixth. The two runs scored helped the team score in five of the first six innings of the game. Back-to-back two out base hits scored the two runs. First, Alan Roden had a two-out base hit then scored on a Davis Schneider base hit to center field. He would score thanks to Wagner’s second RBI of the night. It extended Buffalo’s advantage to 8-5.

St. Paul would score the next five runs over the following three innings for their first lead of the game. They would score three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take an 8-7 deficit and turn it into a 10-8 lead. Mike Ford’s only hit of the night was a two-run single that capped the scoring.

Tirotta’s second hit of the night was a home run to left field that scored Sanchez and tied the game 10-10. It gave the Bisons’ designated hitter three RBIs on the game and his fourth home run of the season.

However, for the second straight game a three-run home run allowed the Saints to walk off winners. Mickey Gasper delivered the game-winning hit with the home run to left field that sent Buffalo to a 13-10 loss.

The teams will meet for the fourth game of their six-game series on Friday night at 7:37 p.m. EDT. Andrew Bash is scheduled to start for the Bisons at CHS Field. You can listen to the game on The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy App, and bisons.com starting at 7:15 p.m. with the ‘Voice of the Bisons’ Pat Malacaro.