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MOOSIC — Loaded with Major League talent and former prospects, Buffalo’s lineup has the potential to be one of the most explosive in the International League.
For the second time in two days, the Bisons showed the electricity they can produce by pounding out 16 hits and topping the RailRiders 8-1 on Wednesday night at PNC Field.
The Bisons’ three through seven hitters reached base 16 times paced by former Phillies top prospect and former National League All-Star Domonic Brown, who hit a pair of towering homers and went 3 or 5 with four RBI and three runs scored.
“Today I thought we came out a little flat,” SWB manager Al Pedrique said.
Most of Buffalo’s damage came against SWB starter Anthony Swarzak (0-2), who looked good early tossing three scoreless innings. But once the Buffalo lineup saw him the second time around, the batters started to catch on.
The Bisons scored two in the fourth and three more in the fifth off Swarzak with the big blast being a three-run homer by Brown in the fifth. The RailRiders starter allowed five runs in five innings and gave up 10 hits.
“He was working ahead in the count early in the game, getting all his pitches down in the zone. Then all of a sudden he started getting underneath his pitches a little bit and that’s why he fell behind in the count,” Pedrique said about his starter. “And when you fall behind in the count against a good hitting team like Buffalo … they will realize that and they were patient and he made mistakes and elevated some of his pitches and that’s why they were able to hit those.”
Buffalo wasn’t done scoring when Swarzak left. The team scored two more in the seventh off Tyler Olson and added one in the eighth off Nick Goody on Brown’s second homer of the game for an 8-1 lead.
Veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc (2-1), who pitched for the Yankees in 2014, kept the RailRiders guessing all night from the onset.
The only time the RailRiders got anything going against the 31-year-old was in the fourth inning when they had three baserunners and Donovan Solano drove in Slade Heathcott to trim the deficit to 2-1. Nick Swisher also singled in the inning and was the only RailRider to reach base more than once with two singles and a walk.
“He changed speeds well. He moved the ball around the plate and against righties he was on the corner,” Pedrique said about LeBlanc. “He didn’t throw hard, but changed speeds, threw off-speed pitches in fastball counts and that’s why he pretty much kept us off-balanced all night.”
Other than that inning, LeBlanc was on target, retiring the side in order four times. He appeared to get stronger as the outing continued, picking up five of his eight strikeouts in his final three frames. Overall, he went seven innings, needing to throw just 92 pitches, and gave up just four hits. Other than the fourth inning, he didn’t allow a RailRider baserunner to reach second base.
Notes: Heathcott left the game in the fifth inning after being hit by a pitch on the right hand in the fourth inning. Pedrique said that Heathcott got an X-ray, but the results weren’t available immediately after the game. He will be evaluated by the team doctor on Thursday and a decision will be made whether he can play in Thursday’s series finale against the Bisons.
Bisons 8, RailRiders 1
Buffalo `AB`R`H`BI
Pompey lf`2`0`0`0
Adams 3b` 3`1`1`0
Burns 3b/lf`5`1`1`0
Brown rf`5`3`3`4
Montero dh`5`2`2`1
Dominguez 1b`5`1`3`0
Lake cf`3`0`2`0
Casilla 2b`5`0`4`2
Sanchez c`5`0`0`0
Mier ss`5`0`0`0
Totals`43`8`16`7
RailRiders`AB`R`H`BI
Gamel lf`4`0`0`0
Judge dh`4`0`1`0
Heathcott cf`1`1`0`0
Diaz lf`2`0`0`0
Refsnyder 2b`4`0`0`0
Swisher 1b`3`0`2`0
Solano 3b`4`0`1`1
Adams rf`3`0`1`0
Rodriguez c`3`0`0`0
Kozma ss`3`0`0`0
Totals`31`1`5`1
Buffalo `000`230`210`—`8
RailRiders`000`100`000` — `1
E: Rodriguez (1). LOB: Bisons 10, RailRiders 5. DP: Bisons 1, RailRiders 0. 2B: Brown (2), Burns (5), Dominguez (2). HR: Brown 2 (4).
Buffalo `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
LeBlanc (W, 2-1)`7.0`4`1`1`1`8
Antolin `1.0`1`0`0`0`3
Rowen `1.0`0`0`0`0`0
RailRiders`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Swarzak (L, 0-2)`5.0`10`5`5`1`6
Olson `2.0`3`2`1`0`1
Goody `1.0`1`1`1`0`2
Pestano`1.0`2`0`0`0`1
HBP: Lake (by Olson); Heathcott (by LeBlanc)
Umpires: HP: Jeremie Rehak; 1B: Joey Amaral; 3B: Shane Livensparger;
T: 2:31 Att: 3,108