Minor League Report: The Bisons hit three home runs in a walk-off win
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Ryley Delaney
Sep 19, 2024, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 19, 2024, 16:28 EDT
A walk-off win is always fun.
On Wednesday, the Buffalo Bisons played the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, defeating the Yankees affiliate 7-6 in walk-off fashion. Their second-half record sits at 31-39 with four more games remaining this season.
The Bisons went down early, as the RailRiders scored two runs in the top of the third, capped off by a sacrifice fly by Ben Rice. In the bottom of the fourth, the Bisons cut the lead in half as Will Robertson singled in a run. However, the RailRiders jumped out to a 5-1 lead as they scored three runs in the top of the sixth.
Things weren’t looking great for the Blue Jays affiliate, as they were down to their final nine outs in the bottom of the seventh. Robertson led off that inning with a single, while Riley Tirotta hit a double to give the Bisons two base runners. Coming in as a pinch hitter was Damiano Palmegiani, who hit his 20th home run of the season on the third pitch he saw.
Still, the Bisons were down a run, and Jonatan Clase grounded out after the home run. Enter Rafael Lantigua, who hit his fourth home run of the season on the third pitch of his at-bat to knot the game at five.
The RailRiders scored a run in the top half of the tenth inning giving the Bisons three outs to at least tie the game. They did more than that though, as Max McDowell hit his seventh home run of the season to win walk-off fashion.

Diving into the stats…

The Bisons totalled 12 hits in this game, three of which were home runs thanks to Damiano Palmegiani, Rafael Lantigua, and Max McDowell. Moreover, Riley Tirotta hit a double and had a two-hit performance, as did Lantigua, Josh Kasevich and Will Robertson. The other two players with a single were Orelvis Martinez and Payton Henry.
Henry returned after a long stint on the Injured List after he was hit in the head by a bat on the follow-through. Nearly four months later, Henry returned to the lineup, and this five-minute post-game interview is a must-watch.
Easton Lucas may be a dude for next season, as he finished with five innings pitched of one-hit ball, giving up two runs (one earned) and striking out six. Luis Quiñones allowed three runs (two earned) in two-thirds of an inning, and Brandon Eisert pitched a clean inning and a third. Connor Cooke allowed two walks in a third of an inning, but Emmanuel Ramírez got him out of the inning with a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning pitched.
Hagen Danner continued to pitch well, hurling a clean inning with a strikeout to bring his season ERA to 3.24. Paxton Schultz picked up the win, allowing an unearned run in an inning of work.
The Bisons return to action on Thursday with four games left to go this season. Paolo Espino will get the start for the Jays’ Triple-A team.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.