IL1 Buffalo Bisons

Late Surge Not Enough as Bisons Fall to IronPigs 5-4

Published on June 24, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


It was a marquee matchup of young starting pitchers - and neither disappointed. Both Buffalo's Daniel Norris and Lehigh Valley's Aaron Nola hurled notable games, but a three-run double from IronPigs' slugger Russ Canzler deemed to be the difference maker in the battle of future stars.

The Bisons fell to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 5-4, for their second loss in the series and third consecutive overall on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Field. The Bisons tallied four times, but not until the eighth inning in a rally that fell just short.

"[Norris] made some good pitches when he needed to, and he got stung for the three-run double," said manger Gary Allenson. "He was a quality pitch away from making it out of the inning, but he face a pretty good Triple-A hitter there in Canzler and he made him pay for it."

Norris' biggest mistake of the night was a fastball in the fifth inning that resulted in a three-run double off the bat of Canzler that broke the game open. The Bisons' southpaw finished his day going six innings, but gave up four earned runs and a walk in his seventh loss of the season.

"It's just one pitch," Norris said. "Baseball is a funny sport. It just comes back to bite you sometimes. [Bisons catcher Sean Ochinko] wanted a fastball in, but it leaker over the center of the plate and he got me. It's just part of it."

Norris excelled in one area in particular on Wednesday - strikeouts. The southpaw struck out nine IronPigs, which tied his season high in the category. He recorded two strikeouts in each of his first four innings.

The only other run Norris allowed on the night came on a double steal with two outs in the second inning.

Norris hasn't won a game since May 11 and has lost six consecutive decisions. But the statistics don't match the record. Over his past 10 starts, Norris has accumulated a 3.33 ERA and has not allowed more than three runs in a start before Wednesday's game in that stretch. In his starts, the Herd averages 2.4 runs per game.

"I can't look down on nights like tonight," Norris said. "I can't get upset. You just got to take it in to tomorrow. We're going to give up runs, sometimes, more than others."

Aaron Nola, Norris' opposition, hurled a stellar game, throwing 7.2 innings while giving up six hits and three runs. He also struck out seven. His first IronPigs' victory came last week against the Bisons, where he threw five scoreless innings, giving him consecutive victories in his first two appearances at the Triple-A level.

In the eighth inning, the Herd began a comeback attempt as the first three batter reached base with hits. Sean Ochinko drove home Caleb Gindl with an RBI single and Alex Hassan scored on a doubleplay. Herd slugger Matt Hague drove in two more runs later in the frame with a double to right field.

"We made a game of it late, but it's still a loss. Silver lining is that we scored some runs," Allenson said. "I hope that it carries over to tomorrow, but I hope we score at the beginning of the game."

The Herd will finish up the three-game series with a 1:05 game on Thursday. Buffalo will then depart to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for a three-game series against the RailRiders.

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International League Stories from June 24, 2015


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