Rogers leads Bisons to series opening 6-2 win in Rochester

Rochester, N.Y. - The Buffalo Bisons scored four runs in the sixth inning and Grant Rogers allowed only two earned runs over six innings as the Herd defeated the Rochester Red Wings 9-6 at ESL Ballpark on Tuesday.

Buffalo started the scoring in the first against Rochester starter Zak Kent. Rudy Martin Jr. walked, Jay Harry hit a hard single, then Sean Keys and Yohendrick Piñango had back-to-back RBIs to make it 2-0 Buffalo. They did so via a groundout and a single, respectively.

Rogers got the start for Buffalo, and after allowing a softly hit leadoff infield single to Seaver King, he got a ground-ball double play from Phillip Glasser, which began a streak of 11 straight batters retired by Rogers.

In the top of the third inning, a single by Josh Kasevich knocked Kent out of the game, and Andry Lara replaced him. In the fifth, Buffalo got two men on against Lara through a William Simoneit double and a walk by Martin, but a double-play ball and another groundout erased the scoring threat.

Leading off the fifth for Rochester, Trey Lipscomb ended Rogers’ streak with an opposite-field home run, cutting Buffalo’s lead to 2-1. Cayden Wallace followed up with a double, then scored to tie the game on consecutive groundouts by Maxwell Romero Jr. and Sam Petersen.

The Herd loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive walks against Red Wings reliever Matt Krook in the sixth. Lenyn Sosa then collected an RBI with a single that one-hopped off the wall on a ball that appeared to hang up enough for it to be caught in right field at a glance, making it 3-2 Buffalo.

With the bases still loaded, Ismael Mungia hit a ball that went off Yohandy Morales’ glove at first base for an error. It plated two more runs for Buffalo. The next batter, with runners at the corners, Simoneit scored the runner from third with a ground-ball double play, extending the Herd’s lead to 6-2.

In the bottom of the sixth, Rogers worked around a one-out single by King to earn another scoreless inning to end his evening. Overall, Rogers allowed two earned runs on four hits, no walks and a home run while striking out four. It was his second quality start of the season and his second straight outing of going at least six innings.

Joe Mantiply replaced Rogers in the seventh and posted a scoreless frame, picking off Romero for the second out after he walked him.

The Bisons loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with two outs against Kyle Nicolas on two singles and a walk, but Kasevich had a hit taken away by King, who smothered a ground ball and made a close play at second base from his back side.

Mantiply retired the first two batters in Rochester’s half of the eighth, then Beau Philip replaced him and worked around a hit batter to end a scoreless inning.

Harry, the only member of the Herd to record multiple hits on Tuesday, hit a leadoff double down the right-field line in the ninth, but failed to score. He tied Carlos Mendoza for fourth on the team with his 14th two-bagger of the season.

Pat Gallagher was given the chance to end the game for Buffalo, but with one out, a walk and a pair of singles made it 6-3 and brought the tying run to the plate. He rebounded with a strikeout of Romero and a ground-ball force out to end the game.

The Bisons and Red Wings will play the second game of this six-game set on Wednesday at ESL Ballpark in Rochester at 1:05 p.m. RHP Josh Stephan will take the mound for the Herd. You can listen to the action on The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy app, and bisons.com starting at 12:45 p.m. with Pat Malacaro.