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IL Buffalo Bisons

Former Herd MVP Hands Bisons Tough 4-3 Defeat

March 30, 2024 - International League (IL)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


2021 Bisons Most Valuable Player Kevin Smith had the biggest hit in game two of the 2024 season, but it came at the expense of the Herd. Smith's RBI-single in the ninth inning for the RailRiders lifted Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to the 4-3 win over Buffalo, Saturday afternoon from Sahlen Field.

Smith's go-ahead hit came with two outs and on a two-strike pitch from Herd reliver Zach Pop, but the shortstop was able to hit a line drive through the right side of the infield to score pinch runner Brandon Lockridge from second for the game's deciding run.

Smith, who hit 21 home runs and drove in 69 for the Bisons in 2021 during their split season between Trenton and Buffalo, joined the Yankees' organization in January, signing as a minor league free agent.

The late-inning rally from the RailRiders spoiled a gem of a start from 37-year old Paulo Espino, who tossed six shutout innings and struck out five in his Bisons debut. The righty faced just two over the minimum and threw 52 of his 77 pitches for strikes.

All three Bisons runs in the game came via the longball as the team clubbed three solo home runs. Max McDowell and Will Robertson went back-to-back in the fifth inning to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead. Then with the Herd trailing 3-2, Nathan Lukes' solo shot in the top of the eighth inning tied the game at three.

With the game scoreless into the fifth inning, McDowell and Robertson went back-to-back with their home runs with two outs in the inning. McDowell stayed back on a 1-2 curveball from RailRiders reliever Duane Underwood Jr. and lined his first homer of the year just inside the left field foul pole.

Two pitches later, it was an absolute no-doubter from Robertson. The 26-year old turned on a fastball left over the plate and crushed it 427 feet into the bullpens in right-center for his first career Triple-A home run. The blast left Robertson's bat at 110.3 miles per hour.

But the RailRiders erased the 2-0 lead by scoring three runs on just one hit in the seventh inning. Following walks by Carlos Navaez and Everson Pereira, Jose Rojos doubled to right field to tie the score at two. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre then got two productive outs -a Smith slow grounder and a sacrifice fly by Luis Gonzalez- to tie the game.

Lukes' home run in the eighth inning was an opposite-field blast out to left-centerfield. The homer was his 17th career Bisons home run.

With one more game in the season-opening homestand, the Bisons will look to close out the weekend with a win on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Chad Dallas is scheduled to start for the Herd.

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International League Stories from March 30, 2024


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