Bisons end season with 76-72 record

The 2022 Buffalo Bisons season came to an end Wednesday night in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with a 3-0 loss to the RailRIders at PNC Field.

The defeat drops the Herd’s record to 76-72 on the season and slots the club in a 4th-place tie with Lehigh Valley in the 10-team International League East Division. Buffalo finished nine games back of the division-winning, Durham Bulls.

However, the 2022 season was Buffalo’s third consecutive winning campaign, something they clinched with Monday night’s doubleheader split. The Herd won the Triple-A East Northeast division last year at 79-47 and was 71-69 when it finished in 3rd place in 2019.

Buffalo had plenty of the division lead during the 2022 campaign, as well. The Bisons held the top spot as late as the end of June, but after having a 41-30 record and June 26, finished the final three months of the season seven game under .500.

The Bisons were held to just three hits in the final defeat of the season with Yoshi Tsutsugo’s first-inning single raising his season-ending Bisons average above the .300-mark at .301. One of the Bisons most consistent hitters all year, L.J. Talley also had a hit in going 1-for-4 at the plate. The Triple-A rookie drove in the game-winning run on Opening Day at Sahlen Field on April 5, but flew out with no one on base for the Bisons final out of the season.

Luis De Los Santos had the Bisons lone extra-base hit, doubling with two outs in the second inning for his first career Triple-A hit.

The RailRiders struck first as veteran second baseman Derek Dietrich hit his third home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the second inning. Jumping on the first pitch he saw from Bisons starter Hayden Juenger, Dietrich hit a high fly ball out to right center for the only run Scranton/Wilkes-Barre would need in the win.

The RailRiders added two more runs in the fifth inning without the benefit of a base hit. Michael Beltre drew a one-out walk and was pushed to second base when Herd reliever Yosver Zulueta hit Anthony Volpe with a pitch. Beltre and Volpe then combined on a double steal and both came around when Tyler Wade hit a pop sacrifice fly into shallow right-centerfield.

De Los Santos went back from the infield to make the catch on Wade’s popup, but Beltre knew the Herd second baseman was running away from home and decided to test De Los Santos’ arm. The off-balance throw to the plate was up the line and when Beltre collided with Bisons catcher Juan Gonzalez, the ball skipped away. That allowed not only Beltre but Volpe to score on the play.

The Bisons will now set their sights on the 2023 season, which will begin right where this campaign ended… at PNC Field. The Herd opens up the year on Friday, March 31 against the RailRiders in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with the home opener schedule for four days later, Tuesday, April 4 against the Worcester Red Sox.