Josh Kasevich sparks Bisons past Worcester with three RBI hits

Josh Kasevich turned a routine Friday night into a statement, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and driving in a run in each of his first three at-bats as the Buffalo Bisons beat the Worcester Red Sox 5-2 at Sahlen Field.

That kind of start changes the tone of a Triple-A game fast. Kasevich’s first three trips to the plate all produced run-scoring contact, giving Buffalo control before Worcester could settle in and forcing the WooSox to chase the game from behind. Buffalo entered the night at 22-21, Worcester at 22-19, and the Bisons used Kasevich’s efficiency to grab an early edge in a matchup that carried weight in the International League standings.

The Bisons kept the pressure on just enough to make the lead stick. Je'Von Ward added a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to push Buffalo in front 4-2, then Carlos Mendoza singled in another run in the eighth for insurance. Buffalo did not need a barrage of extra-base hits or a crooked number inning because Kasevich’s string of RBI swings had already done the heavy lifting. When a lineup can turn its first three chances with a hitter into immediate production, the rest of the night opens up for the pitching staff and defense.

Worcester had chances to make the finish uncomfortable, but Buffalo kept the Red Sox from cashing in. Worcester stranded nine runners on base, including seven over the final three innings, and put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in two of those last three frames without getting over the top. That late resistance gave the Bisons a direct test of their ability to protect a lead built on early offense, and they passed it.

For Kasevich, the night fit the profile of a player trying to climb through a Blue Jays system that values contact, adjustment and run production without flash. The 25-year-old right-handed hitter, drafted by Toronto in the second round in 2022 out of Oregon, arrived with a .292 average, 45 hits and 17 RBI in 154 at-bats for Buffalo, and the performance at Sahlen Field only strengthened the case that he is more than a one-night spike. It came during Buffalo’s three-game America’s 250th Celebration Weekend, a homestand opener that also featured the club’s largest fireworks show of the season, $2.50 Sahlen’s hot dogs and home run gift-card giveaways, but Kasevich supplied the most important show of the night: three RBI hits that put the game away early and never let Worcester back in.