Bisons Bull Pen Secures 2-1 Win
The relief staff shut Pawtucket out for the next six innings with solid work from Jose De La Torre, Mike O'Conner, Manny Alvarez and finally Ryota Igarashi, who pitched one and a third innings for his first save of the season.
Igarashi retired the side in the ninth with ease, striking out Ryan Kalish, getting Daniel Nava to ground out and striking out Lars Anderson looking.
"I'll tell you what those guys have done a great job out there in the bull pen, and their pitching often, and their doing a tremendous job holding down the fort," Manager Tim Teufel said.
Bonser left Sunday's game midway through Nate Spears' at-bat in the top of the fourth inning. De La Torre got Spears to fly out to centerfield on his first pitch to end the inning. De La Torre faced four more batters, striking out three.
"Today De La Torre did a great Job," said Teufel. "The bullpen has done a tremendous job and especially today, they really stepped up."
The Bisons never trailed in the game, scoring a run in the first inning off of a Justin Turner triple and a RBI-single by Nick Evans.
"We got a lot of good hitters in the line-up and I think it's just a matter of time before they start really swinging the bat," said Teufel.
Pawtucket tied the game in the fourth inning when Yamaico Navarro hit a double into left field and was singled home by J.C. Linares.
The Bisons came right back in the bottom of the fourth. Ruben Tejada walked and stole second, his second stolen base of the year. Pawtucket starter Andrew Miller walked two more batters to load the bases. A passed ball from Rich Hill allowed Tejada to score from third, giving the Bisons back the lead.
"We're playing good defense and fundamentally sound baseball so from that stand point and having good pitching out of the bullpen, as a manager you can't ask for much more," Teufel said.
Game Notes Boof Bonser left the game in the fourth inning due to injury. Teufel said he would be re-evaluated...The Bisons turned their first doubleplay of the season and their first strikeout, throw them out double play...Opponents are 1-5 when attempting to steal bases. Raul Chavez threw out two runners...Kirk Nieuwenhuis walked three times but did not score.