Storm Chasers Outscore Bisons 9-7 in High-Scoring Werner Park Battle

Drew Waters delivered the decisive blow, and Mason Black slammed the door. Waters launched a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday night at Werner Park, and Black worked the final four outs for the save as the Omaha Storm Chasers outlasted the Buffalo Bisons 9-7 in the middle game of their six-game series.

Omaha wasted no time seizing control. Josh Rojas cracked a two-run double against Buffalo starter Grant Rogers in the bottom of the first inning, and Kevin Newman followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Storm Chasers ahead 3-0 before the Bisons had recorded an out on the offensive side. Omaha finished with 11 hits on the night.

Buffalo clawed back. Brandon Valenzuela answered with a solo home run, his first of the season, to trim the deficit to 3-1. Then in the third inning, Carlos Mendoza drew a walk and came around to score on Eloy Jimenez's two-run shot, pulling the Bisons within one at 4-3. For a stretch in the middle innings, the game looked like it could tip either way.

It did not. Omaha scored again in the fifth to push the lead to 5-3, then Waters cleared the bases in the seventh. That three-run blast made it 9-3 and appeared to put the game out of reach.

Buffalo had other ideas in the eighth. The Bisons batted around and scored four times, with Jonatan Clase lining a base hit to left-center that brought home Josh Kasevich and Rivera to make it 9-7. Charles McAdoo, who extended his hitting streak to four consecutive games with a single in the ninth, represented part of the late-game pressure Omaha had to absorb. Black shut it down from there, recording the final four outs to secure the victory and improve Omaha's record to 2-4.

The two clubs entered Thursday's game even at 2-2 in the series. Both teams have alternated between dominant pitching stretches and offensive eruptions through the opening week, a pattern the 9-7 final underscored. Buffalo had won the series opener 6-4, Omaha took a 3-0 shutout in game two, and Thursday's slugfest produced the swing game. With the series continuing through the weekend, bullpen management figures to be a central storyline as both rosters absorb innings at a rapid early-season pace.