Buffalo Scores Late, Splits Series With Stripers

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - The Buffalo Bisons scored two runs in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and went on to beat the Gwinnett Stripers 4-2 on Sunday at Coolray Field.

Miguel Socolovich relieved starting pitcher Kyle Wright to start the eighth and was greeted with a first-pitch home run by Jonathan Davis (3). Socolovich allowed an RBI single to Reese McGuire later in the inning to make it 4-2.
The Bisons got a run off Wright in the second after Anthony Alford led off with a single and stole second. Darnell Sweeney singled to right and Xavier Avery bobbled the ball, allowing Alford to score the first run. A second run would come home in the fourth on a wild pitch by Wright.
Gwinnett cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth as Avery singled off right-hander Mike Hauschild to start the inning. After Avery stole second, Sean Kazmar Jr. drove him home with a single.
In the sixth, Michael Reed blasted a 428-foot homer (7) to left to even the score. It was his first home run since July 15 at Norfolk, and extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
Wright kept the Stripers in the game by retiring 11 of the last 12 batters he faced. He finished after 7.0 innings with five hits, two earned runs and two walks, striking out six. Socolovich (L, 4-4) was tagged for three hits, two earned runs and two walks in his 1.0 inning of work.
Hauschild went 5.2 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and a walk with four strikeouts. Danny Barnes (W, 1-1) threw 1.1 scoreless innings. Craig Breslow (H, 2) struck out the side in the eighth, and Jose Fernandez (S, 2) closed out the game with a perfect ninth.
Kazmar was 2-for-4 in the game for Gwinnett. McGuire was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored for Buffalo (58-65).
The Stripers and Bisons split the four-game series as Gwinnett went 5-2 on the homestand. Stripers starting pitchers were 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 41.0 innings over the seven home games.
Gwinnett (60-63) opens a crucial five-game series at Durham with a doubleheader on Tuesday beginning at 6:05 p.m. Right-hander Wes Parsons (6-2, 3.20 ERA) is scheduled for game one against Durham righty Chih-Wei Hu (4-7, 4.47 ERA). Right-hander Bryse Wilson (3-0, 4.50 ERA), coming off a Gwinnett record-setting 13-strikeout performance on August 15 versus Louisville, will take on righty Jake Faria (0-1, 9.00) in game two. Dave Lezotte will have the play-by-play call on 97.7 and 93.5 FM "The Other Side of the River" beginning at 5:35 p.m.