After treating the Coca-Cola Field fans to two consecutive displays of offensive explosion, the Bisons and Yankees were locked into a pitching duel Sunday afternoon. Lead changes and late rallies were nowhere to be found, and efficient pitching stole the show.
30 total runs were scored between the clubs Friday and Saturday. How many on Sunday? Just one.
Steve Pearce's 6th-inning solo homer provided the only scoring, and Scranton left Buffalo with a 1-0 victory. The clubs split the 4-game set at two games apiece, in a unique series where the Yankees batted last as the home team.
Pearce hit his moon shot off Bisons starter Chris Schwinden. Although Pearce was able to muscle the ball out of the park, Bisons manager Wally Backman didn't think it was the result of a bad pitch. Instead, Backman gave Pearce some credit.
"I didn't even think it was that bad of a pitch," Schwinden said. "I didn't think the ball was going to go out. Big, strong guy."
As a result of Pearce's homer, Schwinden suffered the loss and falls to 3-4 on the season. The lack of run support is becoming a growing trend in Schwinden's starts, and Sunday saw the right-hander's second 1-0 loss of the season. Going into Sunday, the Bisons averaged 3.1 runs per game when Schwinden took the mound.
It seems like run support poses a problem for a particular pitcher every season, Backman said.
"It's tough," Backman said. There always seems to be that one guy you don't score a lot of runs for. Unfortunately, it's been Schwinden so far."
Despite the lack of run support, Backman felt that Schwinden played a fundamentally sound game. Schwinden kept Scranton hitters off-balance, inducing a fairly even mix of groundouts, fly outs, and strikeouts in his 5.2 innings of work. Aside from Pearce's homer, Schwinden allowed only one other extra-base hit on the day.
After Schwinden was relieved, the Bisons bullpen was able to lock down Yankees hitters for the rest of the game. A trio of relievers combined to hold Scranton without a hit for the remaining 2.1 innings.
"Great effort from the pitching staff today," Backman said.
But offensive struggles with runners in scoring position kept the Bisons from turning the pitching force's effort into a victory. The Herd went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Sunday, failing to take advantage of potential scoring opportunities.
One of these opportunities came in the 6th inning, after Fred Lewis hit a hard line drive into the right-field corner for a 1-out double. Josh Satin was up next, and he hit a grounder to shortstop, close to Lewis.
Instead of holding up at second base, Lewis ran and found himself trapped between second and third. The Yankees put Lewis out, ending the speedster's threat to score.
Lewis may have been caught off guard by Yankees shortstop Ramiro Pena's ability to keep the ball in the infield on the play, Backman said.
"I was a little bit surprised too," Backman said. "But it's still a base running mistake. You've got to know where your infielders are playing. Freddy's played in the big leagues, and I'm sure that he would say the same thing."
On a more positive note, Lewis continued his string of extra-base offensive production Sunday. Lewis complemented his Friday and Saturday home runs (his first two of the season) with two doubles.
Still, Backman is far from surprised.
"He's swinging the bat good," Backman said. "He shows you every day why he was in the big leagues...He swings the ball well against lefties, and he gives you quality at-bat after quality at-bat."
Despite Lewis' performance - as well as the sound all-around pitching effort - the Herd was unable to secure the win Sunday. The Bisons had their fair share of hits - 9, compared to Scranton's 4 - but couldn't manage to send runners across the plate.
Pearce was able to lift one over the wall, and that's all it took.
"Well-pitched game on both sides," Backman said. "We just fell short today."
Bisons Notes: Former Bison R. A. Dickey continued his strong play with the Mets, pitching no-run ball into the 8th inning in a 2-0 Mets victory. With the win, Dickey improves his record to 7-1 on the season...Despite suffering the loss, Schwinden improved his ERA to 2.59 on the year...Lewis, Jordany Valdespin, and Michael Fisher all had multi-hit games for the Herd...In Buffalo on rehab assignment from the Mets, Pedro Beato pitched 0.2 innings with no hits, a strikeout, and a walk...The Bisons' record-breaking 16-game homestand concludes this week with a 4-game set against Columbus, starting Monday.
from team press release
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