Bisons observations: After 30 games of 150-game schedule, club still working out the kinks

After the first two batters were retired, the Durham Bulls exploded for six runs thanks in large part to a pop-up that fell harmlessly in the outfield. That was all Durham needed to post a 6-2 victory and hand the Herd its first series defeat of the season.

Buffalo lost four of the six games to fall to 16-14 at the 30-game mark of the 150-game International League schedule. 

"We didn't play very good defensively in a lot of these games," said Bisons manager Casey Candaele. "We just didn't make plays and we made out-of-character plays by throwing the ball around. We will work on that. It happens."

Starter Thomas Hatch (1-2) had retired nine straight until No. 9 hitter Cal Stevenson drove a high pitch the opposite way to right for a solo home run with two out in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1. After a walk, Jonathan Aranda lofted a pop-up to short left field but the Bisons were in a shift and third baseman L.J. Talley, approaching the ball from second, was called off by shortstop Josh Fuentes.

Fuentes had a more difficult play running back into the outfield and couldn't make the catch as Aranda was credited with a run-scoring double, and Fuentes then threw the ball away to give Aranda third base. Josh Lowe followed with a two-run homer and Miles Mastrobuoni added a two-run single to put Durham in control.

Here's the pop-up against the shift that the #Bisons butchered and turned the game around. Fuentes called off Talley, who it appeared had the much easier play on the ball. https://t.co/1kli7ibGMG

— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) May 8, 2022

"Hatch pitched really well. We had just had a little miscue in communication," Talley said. "I probably should have had the ball, but it is what it is. It happens. One of us should have had that ball, whether it was me or somebody else."

The Bisons scored in the fourth on Logan Warmoth's RBI single and in the ninth on Samad Taylor's solo homer, his team-leading fifth of the year.

Here are some more Bisons notes a month into the season:

1. Speed, not power

The Taylor home run was Buffalo's IL-low 17th of the season. The Herd entered Sunday sixth in batting (.252) and leading in stolen bases (43), with Taylor tops in the league with 12.

"We will continue to evolve as an offensive team," Candaele said. "We might not hit a lot of home runs but I do think we will hit more than we're hitting now."

2. Pitching

The Bisons continue to struggle with their rotation but get some lights-out work from their bullpen. Buffalo entered the game seventh in the 20-team league in ERA. Hatch had thrown 10 2/3 straight scoreless innings at home until the fifth inning went haywire.

"He threw well, did really good," Candaele said. "Would have been out of that inning with a relatively few number of pitches and probably would have been able to go out for the sixth."

3. The prospects

Toronto's top two prospects are here now in catcher Gabriel Moreno and shortstop Jordan Groshans, who has not played the last two days due to a mild quad issue. Moreno, who had a four-hit night and drove in the winning run Friday, went 0 for 3 on Sunday to drop his average to .299 and remains tied for second on the team with 15 RBIs.

Groshans, a 22-year-old who was the 12th overall pick in the 2018 draft, is batting .348 in seven games.

"They've been good and there's a lot to learn still but they're progressing well," Candaele said. "At each level, there's growing pains and things you have to learn. They'll do fine."

Talley, Toronto's No. 7 pick in 2019, went 2 for 4 to push his average to .328. He was a .247 hitter last year in 80 games at Double-A New Hampshire.

"It's been fun and I'm still not exactly where I want to be," said Talley. "A lot of bloop hits, some hit pretty good. I'm just trying to keep it going."

4. Around the horn

• A playoff format for 2022 was just announced last week and only the two division winners will advance to the inaugural "Triple-A Triple Championship Weekend" Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Las Vegas. 

It will feature one-game playoffs to determine the winners of Pacific Coast League (Sept. 30) and the IL (Oct. 1 at 9:05 ET). The survivors meet in the Triple-A National Championship game Oct. 2 at 7:05 ET. 

• The Bisons play three of their next four series – 18 of the next 24 games – on the road. The stretch starts Tuesday at Lehigh Valley. The only home games during it are May 17-22 against Syracuse.

• Sunday's crowd of 5,758 was the third-highest of the year and pushed the Bisons' per-game average to 5,015, ninth in the league.