Herd needs to corral IronPigs
The Bisons looked good in all areas in Friday's 4-2 win over Pawtucket. There was good starting pitching by Matt Ginter (a season-high 6 2/3 innings), solid situational hitting and stellar relief from Rich Rundles and iron closer Rick Bauer.
It was a much better performance than Thursday's double loss to the Pawsox, which saw the Herd come within one inning of getting shut out in both ends of a twinbill for the first time in Dunn Tire Park history.
"I was happy to see that because [Thursday] was tough to watch, tough to stomach,'' said manager Torey Lovullo. "We were a baseball team today. We executed, did what we had to to win a game.''
The Bisons open a four-game series Saturday night with Lehigh Valley, which is 6-2 in its last eight and nowhere near as hapless as it was in starting the season 5-30. But the Bisons need to stick a fork in the IronPigs this weekend to start getting back in the North Division race.
At 19-23, Buffalo is already 9 1/2 games behind Scranton after the Yankees split a twinbill at Louisville. Scranton is 29-14 and I'm betting will come back to the pack a little because moves will keep being made in New York. But Syracuse (25-17) and Pawtucket (25-18) are also having strong years and the Bisons have to start making up ground.
Improving in the division and at home would be good places to start. Buffalo is just 11-15 vs. North foes and only 10-10 downtown. The IronPigs, meanwhile, hit town just 1-18 in the North and 3-20 on the road. This would be a good time for the Bisons to establish some advantage in their home park.
---Mike Harrington
If you are a baseball fan, the only thing better than watching a game is talking about it. And there will be lots of talk here, from the Yankees to the Bisons and around the majors. Reporters Mike Harrington and Amy Moritz provide the background and commentary.
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