TOLEDO, OH (Bisons.com) - Toledo jumped out to a 9-1 lead after five innings and held on to beat the Herd, 10-6, and sweep the four game set Tuesday night from Fifth Third Field.
The Mud Hens outslugged the Bisons in a game that included 31 hits, 15 of which went for extra-bases. Max St. Pierre, Mike Hessman and Jeff Frazier combined to go 10-for-14 with seven RBI and five runs scored for Toledo.
A five-run fifth inning by Toledo, highlighted by St. Pierre's three-run home run, put the Mud Hens ahead, 9-1, and seemingly broke open the game and put the Bisons away.
But the Herd wouldn't die. Buffalo rebounded to score four times in the sixth. Back-to-back-to-back doubles by Nick Evans, Mike Lamb, and Chip Ambres got the inning started for the Bisons. After Javier Castillo ended the streak with a groundout to third, Rene Rivera cracked a two-run home run over the left-center field wall that cut the Toledo lead to 9-5.
Buffalo brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Jesus Feliciano grounded out softly with two runners aboard.
The Mud Hens jumped on Lance Roadway and the Bisons early, plating a run in the first and scoring three more times in the second.
The Herd looked poised to get right back in the game in the top of the third. Andy Green hit a towering home run, his second in as many nights, to get Buffalo on the board. But the Bisons were after more, loading the bases for Ambres, who sent a long fly ball to the warning track in center that Don Kelly tracked down to end the inning.
Broadway had a rare off-night for the Herd, allowing nine runs on 11 hits in 4.1 innings. In the month of July , the former first round pick was 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA in five games and four starts. The month also included a nine-inning complete game against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Reliever Arturo Lopez kept the Herd in the game, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings.
After an off day Wednesday, the Herd hit the field in Columbus to take on the Clippers Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.
BISONS NOTES:
Nick Evans extended his road hit streak to 13 games with a line drive double in the third inning... Andy Green and Rene Rivera have each homered in back-to-back games for the Herd... The Bisons faced two big-league pitchers on major-league rehab assignments from Detroit on Tuesday. Nate Robertson made the start for Toledo and threw just 2.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits, with two strikeouts. Jeremy Bonderman, the second Detroit Tiger to face Buffalo in the game, threw one scoreless inning of relief.
