IL1 Buffalo Bisons

Mesa Delivers Walk-Off in 5-4 Herd Win

Published on July 10, 2015 under International League (IL1)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


Bisons' centerfielder Melky Mesa skied a two-out, two-run walk-off home run to lift the Herd to a 5-4 victory over the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Friday night. The blast capped a three-run bottom of the ninth inning for Buffalo in the win.

Trailing 4-2, Buffalo's ninth-inning rally started with back-to-back singles from Alex Hassan and Ryan Schimpf. Jonathan Diaz advanced both runners with a perfect bunt down the third base line to set up the scoring for the Herd. Munenori Kawasaki stepped up to the plate and grounded out to second base, scoring Alex Hassan from third to cut down the Herd's deficit to one run.

Enter Melky Mesa. With two outs and the rally on the line, Mesa hit the first pitch he saw from RailRiders reliever Nick Rumbelow just over the left field wall, giving Buffalo the walk off victory at home. Gary Allenson said post game that if a pitcher gives Mesa a good breaking ball, you're in trouble.

"I'm just looking for something to get my job done," Mesa said. "I got a good pitch, a hanging breaking ball and I did what I'm supposed to do with that ball so I'll take that."

In his previous at bat, Mesa came just short of another three-run homer, crushing the ball 395 feet before being caught by RailRiders' centerfielder Ben Gamel.

"I hit that one better. The one before I hit better, but that was the long part of the field," Mesa said.

Allenson has noticed how much Mesa has stepped up since becoming a full time member of the Bisons' roster. In his last six games, Mesa has a .379 batting average.

"Melky, since he's gotten some regular playing time and since he's been leading off, he's been a big spark plug for us," Allenson said. "He's swinging the bat real well. He kinda likes to get a couple of strikeouts out of the way early there and then get to hitting and if he keeps doing that's fine with me."

The centerfielder from the Dominican Republic didn't just step up offensively on Friday night, but defensively as well. Mesa made two over-the-shoulder grabs deep in centerfield.

"I can say I enjoy playing outfield," Mesa said. "I just try to do always my best, control what I can control and that's it. Enjoy."

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre built a lead early, stringing five singles to score three runs in the fourth inning. The RailRiders took a 4-1 lead into the seventh inning before Jonathan Diaz cut the lead to two with an RBI-single to score Hassan.

Buffalo continues their three-game series on Saturday at 7:05. Left hand pitcher Matt Boyd is expected to start for the Herd.

BISONS NOTES:

International League hits leader, Matt Hague, went 2-2 with two singles, a walk and hit by pitch. The All-Star boosted his average to .343 in the Herd's victory on Friday night...Randy Wolf started for the Bisons and allowed four runs in seven innings of work.

Check out the Buffalo Bisons Statistics

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International League Stories from July 10, 2015


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