BUFFALO- The Buffalo Bisons opened up their final home stand of the season with a 2-0 loss to Pawtucket on Monday night at Coca-Cola Field after the PawSox added a pair of runs in the third and fourth innings.
Dan Butler set up the first Pawtucket run of the evening with a fly ball single to left field in the third inning. Matt Dominguez then sent a pitch sailing to the left field wall later in the frame. Herd outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. kept the hit to a single with a great throw but also in the process Butler plated to give the PawSox a 1-0 edge.
Murphy Smith found himself in a jam on the mound an inning later and yielded three consecutive singles Sam Travis, Ryan Court, and Blake Swihart. With the bases loaded, Dan Butler drove a sacrifice fly towards Teoscar Hernandez in right field foul territory to score Travis.
The Herd batted just four hits in the loss. Danny Jansen, Jon Berti, and Roemon Fields all got on base through a single and Michael Saunders had the lone double in the sixth frame.
Smith gave the Herd five innings of work in a spot start that saw just two runs and eight hits. Chad Girodo dished three innings of long relief to keep the game in reach. The southpaw allowed four hits in that span and tossed a pair of strikeouts. Chris Smith closed the game out with a scoreless inning of relief.
Buffalo continues their home stand against Pawtucket on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. Nick Tepesch (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will make his first appearance with the Herd since a call up to the Blue Jays and the Red Sox will have Jalen Beeks (6-5, 3.45 ERA) on the mound.
BISONS NOTES: The Blue Jays have recalled relief pitcher Leonel Campos and have designated outfielder Nori Aoki for assignment...This is the first shutout loss for the Bisons since a 4-0 result at Indianapolis on Aug. 7.
