Bisons fall in season finale, 8-4 to RailRiders

The Buffalo Bisons 2024 season came to an end on Sunday afternoon as the Herd fell to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, 8-4, from Sahlen Field.

Buffalo wraps up the second half of their season with a 31-43 record and a 68-80 overall mark. It’s the Herd’s first losing season since 2018.

Catcher Payton Henry completed his amazing comeback with a three-hit performance on Sunday. The backstop rejoined the team this week after missing more than three months from the scary head injury he suffered at the end of May. Henry gave the Herd their last lead of the season when he doubled home Josh Kasevich with two outs in the first inning.

But Oswald Peraza homered in the fourth inning off Jake Bloss to pull the RailRiders even at 1-1. Then Scranton/Wilkes-Barre put the game out of reach with a six-run fifth inning that included a grand slam from slugger Ben Rice.

Trailing 7-1, the Bisons did get back into the game with three runs in their half of the sixth inning. Orelvis Martinez doubled to lead off the inning and then came around to score when left fielder Duke Ellis misplayed the ball on another hit from Henry. Damiano Palmegiani then launched Buffalo’s final home run of 2024, hitting a two-run shot to centerfield that was struck at 104.2 mph.

Palmegiani finished the season with 19 home runs, tied with Will Robertson for the team lead.

Bloss suffered the defeat for the Bisons when the fifth inning got out of hand. The righty had allowed just a run on three hits with four strikeouts over the first four innings of the game, but was responsible for two of the six RailRiders that scored in the fifth inning. Bloss ends the season 0-4 in his four decisions with the Bisons.

The lone other multi-hit performance for the Bisons on Sunday was designated hitter Phil Clarke, who was 2-4 with a pair of singles.