Jeurys Familia struggled again last night for the Bisons.
On a night when Jeurys Familia was struggling, the Bisons offense overcame an early deficit and powered past the Syracuse Chiefs last night by a score of 13-7.
It seemed as though Familia had started to turn it around last month, pitching three stellar games in a row towards the middle of the month. However, in his last two starts before last night, Familia had allowed a total of ten earned runs in 7.2 innings pitched. He continued to struggle last night as well.
The night started off pretty well for Familia, as he tossed a perfect first inning. However, it proved to only be the calm before the storm. After the Bisons took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run by Lucas Duda, the Chiefs struck in the top of the second. Familia allowed two hits, two walks, and a sacrifice bunt in the inning, allowing the Chiefs to jump ahead 3-2. That wasn’t the end for Familia’s struggles. He allowed two solo home runs in the top of the third before finally being taken out of the game. He left after throwing just 2.2 innings and allowing five runs on five hits and three walks. When he exited, the Chiefs were leading 5-2, and it would only get crazier from there.
In the bottom of the third, the Bisons tried re-take the lead with a huge rally of their own. Fred Lewis singled up the middle to lead off the inning. A few batter later with Lucas Duda and Lewis on base, Lutz drove Duda in with an RBI-single, cutting the Syracuse lead to 5-3. The next batter, Josh Satin, rocked a three-run home run to cap off a huge inning for the Bisons, grabbing a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, the Bisons pulled away, extending their lead with three more runs. Zach Lutz and Josh Satin both came up big again, this time with doubles.
With a big lead in hand, it was smooth sailing for Buffalo the rest of the way. They tacked on two more runs in the seventh and eighth innings, including one on a two-run homer from Mike Nickeas. That sealed the deal for the Bisons, who would win 13-7.
Herd Rumblings: A big story in last night’s game was the injury to Kirk Nieuwenhuis. He reportedly tore the plantar fascia in his foot and will be examined by team doctors on Saturday. He has not been placed on the disabled list yet, however. R.A. Dickey suffered a partially torn plantar fascia last May, but didn’t miss a start… Jeurys Familia has gone a total of 10.1 innings over his past three starts, allowing a total of 15 earned runs. He has also struck out only six batter over his last three starts after striking out nine in a brilliant start on July 18, when he tossed eight innings of one-run baseball against Toledo. While Familia struggled, the offense had quite a day. Zach Lutz was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Josh Satin was 4-for-5 with four RBI. Lucas Duda and Mike Nickeas also had two-RBI nights. Jenrry Mejia (1-2, 3.57 ERA) will make the start for Buffalo tomorrow against the Chiefs. First pitch is at 7:05.
