The Bisons were looking for a stop to their recent four-game losing streak. Brian Slocum brought it to a screeching halt.
Slocum tossed five no-hit innings and allowed just one walk in a near-perfect outing as the Herd defeated the Toledo Mud Hens, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon. The victory snapped a four-game slide and evened Buffalo's four-game series with Toledo at a game apiece.
A strict pitch-count was all that could stop Slocum on the mound. The righty fanned three batters and retired the final 11 Hens he faced. A walk to Jeff Larish with one out in the second inning was the only base runner he allowed.
Slocum threw 67 pitches with an impressive 46 of them going for strikes. On Saturday, and for the near future, Slocum will have a limited pitch count because of a forearm injury he suffered last year. In 2007, Slocum did not pitch after May 11 (five starts) because of the injury.
Buffalo's great pitching didn't end with their starter. Jeff Harris tossed three shutout innings and gave up just three singles. Rick Bauer worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the season.
The Bisons' offense once again centered around Andy Gonzalez. The left fielder homered in the fourth inning and made a great base running play to score the game's first run in the second. When Danny Sandoval singled to left with two outs, Gonzalez was waived home by Bisons' manager Torey Lovullo. Timo Perez's throw arrived at the plate first, but Gonzalez ran hard into catcher Nick Trzesniak to jar the ball loose.
Buffalo scored a third run in the fifth inning on an RBI-single from Ben Francisco.
