Last night was all about Chris Schwinden… well, for a while. Schwinden struggled in the sixth inning, but the Bisons held on to beat the Rochester Red Wings 8-5.
Schwinden took the mound and dominated early. He held Rochester hitless inning after inning. In fact, the only early baserunner he gave up was a walk in the fourth, which was immediately erased by a double play.He took a no-hitter two outs into the bottom of the sixth inning. Then, Schwinden suddenly began to struggle. He walked a couple of batters and gave up four hits, allowing the Red Wings to score three runs in the inning. That would be all for Schwinden on the night.
Meanwhile, the Bisons offense was surging ahead. They scored two in the third and five in the fourth, thanks to some timely hitting as well as an error by the Red Wings on defense.They had a firm control of the game early on.
The Red Wings gave Buffalo a real scare however in the seventh. Elvin Ramirez lost his control and walked home a runner, making it 7-4 Buffalo. With the bases loaded, Andrew Carpenter was brought in from the bullpen to save the day. He slammed the door on the inning and the possible rally by Rochester.
After the Bisons extended their lead in the eighth on an RBI-single from Zach Lutz, Fernando Cabrera came in for the save. He gave up a solo home run, making it 8-5, but that would be all he would give up. Cabrera shut down Rochester, closing out a victory.
Herd Rumblings: Schwinden had a really rough sixth inning after losing the no-no. Luckily for the Bisons, Wally Backman made the decision to take him out even though he had thrown just 93 pitches. The offense was pretty solid all around. Jordany Valdespin, Josh Satin, and Mike Nickeas all had two hits. Valdespin had a team-high two-RBI. Fred Lewis also had a productive day, going 1-for-2 with three walks. The Bisons begin their final series of the year today with a 6:35 game against Lehigh Valley. Zack Wheeler will start for Buffalo.
