Buffalo Rides Gee to Game One Win
Bisons starter Dillon Gee allowed the Bats to get on the board first, in an otherwise fantastic outing. Norris Hopper led the game off with a single to left. Chris Valaika made it two singles as the next batter, advancing Hopper to third. A wild pitch then allowed Hopper to score for the 1-0 lead.
But the Herd ran from there, plating three runs of its own in the bottom of the first. A leadoff walk to Cory Sullivan and a sacrifice bunt from Argenis Reyes put a runner in scoring position with just one out. Fernando Martinez followed with an RBI double down the left field line, tying the game at one.
The inning continued, however, when Wily Mo Pena walked on five pitches. The hulking first baseman would score behind Martinez when the next batter, Mike Lamb, doubled to left as well. The runs gave Buffalo a 3-0 lead.
The Bisons would add two more runs in the third and fourth innings of a Martinez solo homer, his second, and a sacrifice fly from Sullivan.
Gee was credited with a seven inning complete game. He allowed only the one run on six hits while walking none and striking out one. The outing is Gee's best of the season, and lowers his ERA to 4.33.
Gee picks up the win, his first. The loss goes to Sam LeCure, his second.
GAME 2
The second game of the double-dip featured a great pitching duel. Homer Bailey tossed a complete game shutout for the Bats, while the Bisons bullpen (Kyle Snyder, Connor Robertson, John Switzer) allowed just two runs on five hits in its seven innings of work.
The game's only runs came in the top of the third when the first two Louisville batters reached. Craig Tatum started the threat with a single through the left side. He advanced on a walk to the pitcher Bailey. Both player were then sacrificed over by Hopper, allowing a groundout from Valaika to score Tatum and a single from Wes Bankston to score Bailey. That made the score, and the final, 2-0.
The Bisons will finish their four game series with Louisville Sunday at 1:05.