Tirotta's slam sets tone in Bisons 7-0 win over Storm Chasers

This time, it was the Bisons that struck first in a big way.

Riley Tirotta’s gland slam capped a five-run Buffalo first inning as the Herd got ahead early and coasted to a 7-0 victory over the Storm Chasers, Thursday night at Sahlen Field. Five Bisons pitchers combined on the four-hit shutout, striking out a combined eight batters.

Early runs have been the theme for Buffalo and Omaha this week as the Storm Chasers scored four in the first inning on Tuesday and three in the first on Wednesday, holding on to the lead both times for a victory. Thursday night the Bisons rallied for five runs with two outs in the first inning to put the game away early and earn their first win of the series.

One out singles from Nathan Lukes and Luis De Los Santos got the inning started before Omaha’s Dineison Lamet threw eight straight balls to Josh Kasevich and Alan Roden to give the Bisons a 1-0 lead. The Storm Chasers righty then threw one too many sliders to Tirotta as the Bisons first baseman swung and missed at the first two, but then crushed the third one 369 feet out to left center.

For Tirotta, the home run was his 11^th on the season, giving him 40 RBI on the year. Buffalo has now had eight different players hit grand slams this season as Tirotta joins Orelvis Martinez, Danny Jansen, Cam Eden, Bryce Arnold, Roden, Lukes and Will Robertson all with slams in 2024.

The Herd added another run in the second inning as De Los Santos singled for the second time in as many frames, this one driving in Jonatan Clase from third base with two outs.

The 6-0 lead was more than enough for a Bisons pitching staff that was brilliant from the start. Jake Bloss worked the first three innings and allowed just two hits while striking out three in his third appearance since being acquired by the Blue Jays in a trade with the Astros.

Andrew Bash took over in the fourth and allowed just one base runner in his three innings of work. The righty was in the strike zone and efficient, throwing 29 of his 39 pitches for strikes in earning his third victory of the year.

Mason Fluharty struck out two in his scoreless inning of relief and Brandon Eisert struck out two in the eighth inning as he tied the Herd’s modern era record with his 138^th career appearance with the team. Eisert’s tied the mark set by reliver Bobby Korecky, who pitched in parts of four seasons with the Bisons, 2013-2016.

Jose Cuas finished Buffalo’s league-leading ninth shutout of the season by retiring the Storm Chasers in order in the ninth on just seven pitches.

The Bisons added their seventh run in the eighth inning as Kasevich plated Lukes from third with an RBI groundout.

Buffalo and Omaha return to action Friday night for a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. It’s the team’s ‘Women in Sports’ Honda fridaynightbash! with postgame Fireworks. GET MY TICKETS.