Herd Hold Off Chiefs, Win 5-4

And Lance Broadway is no different.

Competing for the number five spot in the Herd starting rotation, the 25-year-old turned in his best performance of the year; as the Herd held on to beat the Chiefs, 5-4, Tuesday night at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse.

Broadway threw six solid innings to earn his first victory in a Bisons uniform. Of the three hits allowed, only one reached the outfield grass. A Ryan Langerhans double in the fourth inning led to the only run allowed by the right-hander.

Broadway struck out two and walked only two as the Chiefs never really mounted a serious threat against the Texan. Catcher Rene Rivera had something to do with that as well, gunning down two Syracuse base runners.

Mike Lamb provided the offensive punch for the Herd. The veteran went 4-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and two RBI.

The third time was the charm for the Bisons on Tuesday night against Chiefs' starter Marcus Estrada (3-2).

The Herd entered the game without much luck against the right-hander. In two prior starts against the Herd, the 25-year-old Estrada had yielded only one run and six hits to Bisons' batters. Buffalo lost both games, scoring a combined two runs in the contests.

The Herd had seven hits and plated three runs in Estrada's seven innings of work.

The third inning looked like a wasted opportunity for Buffalo. After Argenis Reyes drew a lead-off walk and Cory Sullivan followed with a single, Chip Ambres ripped a single to center-fielder Jason Maxwell who threw a strike to the plate to get Reyes trying to score from second. Michel Abreu looked at strike three for the second out and it seemed Estrada would again avoid any damage.

But Lamb had other plans. The third-basemen hit a long fly-ball off the wall in right-center for a two-RBI triple that extended the Herd lead to 3-0.

The Herd got some insurance runs in the eighth inning that would come in handy. Jesus Feliciano singled to right with the bases loaded and one-out scoring Abreu and Lamb and increased the Buffalo lead to 5-1.

After an unearned run in the eighth, Justin Maxwell hit a two-out, two-run home run in the ninth of closer Elmer Dessens to cut the Herd lead to 5-4. Dessens bore down to get Seth Bynum to fly out to center to earn his 11th save and end the ballgame.

The Bisons have now won two series in a row, after taking three-of-four from Durham. The Herd head back to Buffalo for two more against the Chiefs on Wednesday and Thursday. LHP Jonathon Niese (1-6, 6.31) is slated to get the start for the Herd against RHP Garrett Mock (1-1, 5.73) at 7:05 p.m.

BISONS NOTES:
Mike Lamb extended his hit streak to seven games with his 4-for-4 performance. He is now hitting .440 (11-for-25) during the streak. Lamb's four hit performance is only the third four-hit game for a Bisons player this year. Jesus Feliciano had four hits on April 14 and Cory Sullivan turned in four base hits on June 11...Argenis Reyes' 10-game hit streak came to an end on Tuesday. Reyes went 0-for-3 with a BB and HBP.