Wade’s Two Blasts Not Enough as Braves Pull Even Behind Gray and a Relentless Bullpen

Sammy Linedriv - TABL Beat Writer

It began with the sound of leather and ended with the thud of inevitability. Under a crisp Manhattan night sky, the Buffalo Braves punched back, hard, taming the Giants 7–3 and evening the American Conference Championship at two games apiece.

For the first five innings, everything Buffalo touched seemed to find daylight. For the Giants, every missed call and every hanging pitch seemed to find trouble.

Early Trouble for Schmidt

Clarke Schmidt, handed the ball with a chance to push New York to the brink of a pennant, never made it past the second inning. His fastball had life, but not the luck, and certainly not the zone.

Randy Arozarena started the game by yanking a double down the left-field line. Jackson Merrill and William Contreras followed with patient at-bats that loaded the bases. Schmidt nearly escaped, striking out Julio Rodríguez to record the second out, but Christian Yelich lined a two-strike pitch into right to plate two. One inning later, Merrill and Contreras both came through again with RBI singles, and just like that, it was 4–0 Buffalo.

When asked about Schmidt’s short night, Giants skipper Angel Pagan didn’t hold back on the factors beyond his pitcher’s control:

“Clarke got squeezed in the Merrill at-bat,” “That 2-1 pitch was on the corner, but home plate umpire [name redacted for safety reasons] didn’t give it to him. A 3-1 count is so different from a 2-2 count. Then Contreras should have been rung up on that check swing. Anybody can have a bad game, and tonight it was the ump’s turn. Unfortunate.”

Schmidt’s line told the story, 1⅔ innings, five hits, four runs, but the night was shaped by timing and calls that tilted the rhythm of the game.

Wade’s Fireworks Keep Hope Alive

If the Giants found any pulse, it was in the familiar swing of LaMonte Wade Jr. The left-hander crushed solo home runs in the third and fifth innings, each one a reminder that this club doesn’t stay quiet for long. His second blast ended Sonny Gray’s evening, cutting the deficit to 5–3 and sending a flicker of life through the Bronx stands.

But Buffalo’s bullpen was airtight. Ryan Yarbrough stepped in and changed the entire temperature of the game. He tossed 1⅔ scoreless innings and was saved from potential damage when Arozarena made a spectacular leaping grab to rob Luis Arraez of extra bases.

From there, Yennier Cano, Orion Kerkering, and Blake Treinen closed ranks, limiting the Giants to just two hits over the final five innings.

Buffalo’s Bats Keep Beating

Yelich and Contreras were the heartbeat again, Yelich with three hits and two RBIs, Contreras with another pair of run-scoring singles. Jackson Merrill put the final exclamation point on the night with a solo homer in the eighth that silenced what was left of the Giants faithful.

Buffalo finished with 11 hits, many of them loud, many of them late.

Closing Time

The bullpen may have earned the win, but it was Orion Kerkering who stole the show down the stretch. The rookie right-hander fanned four of the six hitters he faced, including Judge and Tucker in a breathtaking seventh inning.

“Electric,” “That’s the word for him. He wanted the ball in that spot, and he earned it.”

The win guarantees that this series, now even at 2–2, will return to Buffalo for at least one more night beneath the rusted steel and history of Braves Field.

But first comes a rematch for the ages: Chris Sale and Logan Webb, both with something to prove.

Final: Buffalo Braves 7, New York Giants 3 Series tied 2–2.

W – Yarbrough L – Schmidt HR – Merrill (BUF); Wade 2 (NY)