IL1 Buffalo Bisons

Bisons Win 2-1 in 14 Innings

Published on July 31, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


Due to a depleted, three-man bullpen to work with on Friday night, manager Gary Allenson was ready to have catcher Caleb Gindl come in and pitch the 14th inning.

But fortunately for the Bisons, they didn't have to witness Gindl take the mound because he did what he was supposed to do as a position player - get on base and score a run. And that's exactly what he did.

"We had [Chad] Jenkins and that was it," Allenson said. "Gindl was the pitcher. I don't think he's ever pitched before. I think that's why he was running so hard around the bases."

The Bisons won 2-1 on a walk-off RBI double down the left field line to score Gindl in the bottom of the 14th inning on Friday night at Coca-Cola Field. Buffalo bounced back from a late-inning defeat on Thursday to take the first of a three-game series.

With Gindl on first, Jon Berti drove a ball down the left field line towards the corner. Gindl noticed Jeff Bianchi misplayed the ball coming off the wall, and was able to gain enough momentum to slide into home to score the winning run 3:36 after the first pitch.

Berti was "relaxed" at the plate when he found his inside pitch. Berti is currently on a four-game hitting streak, going 4-for-6 in one of his finest days as a Bison.

"He's done a pretty good job since he's gotten here," Allenson said. "The thing about him, he got a couple hits his first game, and then struggled after that. But it didn't affect how he plays the game. He plays hard."

But despite Berti's late-inning heroics, Randy Wolf was the true superstar of Friday night. Wolf had many stellar outings for the Herd this season, but Friday's start may have topped them all. He was efficient and kept the Red Sox off guard with his mix of off-speed and fastballs.

The veteran, who has had a resurgent 2015 with the Bisons, retired his final 10 batters and forced 14 groundouts in his eight-inning effort. He only gave up two hits during his outing and lowered his ERA to 2.48. But he wasn't able to secure his eighth victory of the year with his performance.

"Once again, he's done an incredible job for us," Allenson said. "We wouldn't be where we're at without him. The whole pitching staff tonight, also."

The Bisons offense, which averaged close to seven runs per game over the past week, was not as dominant as it has been. The unit only put up two runs, one of which was the game winner and the other was the result of a throwing error. The Herd also put up 11 hits but left 12 runners on base throughout the game.

Even with a stymied offense, the bullpen rebounded and kept Buffalo in the game as long as possible. The bullpen rebounded from a tough, five-run performance on Thursday night to throw five innings of three-hit baseball.

The most impressive relief performance was by Greg Burke in the 11th inning. After allowing a runner to reach third with one out in the frame, Burke rebounded to strike out consecutive batters to keep it a 1-1 game.

The Paw Sox threatened with a runner in scoring position in the ninth inning, but Andy Burns sacrificed his body to preserve the tie. A softly hit pop-up was hit towards the third base line in foul territory, but Burns played through the fans and ended up with the ball to end the inning.

Burns nearly played the hero as well in the bottom of that inning. With runners on second and third, Burns found a small gap on the left side of the infield, but Mike Miller made an impressive, off-balance throw to nail Burns at first to send the game to extras.

The Bisons will continue its three-game series with Pawtucket on Saturday at Coca-Cola Field. The game will begin at 7:10 p.m.

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International League Stories from July 31, 2015


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