An impressive Bisons’ rally fell short in an absolute slugfest at Knights Stadium on Monday night. Charlotte pounded out 21 hits in a 13-12 victory of a very persistent Herd club.

Buffalo trailed most of the game, including by six runs in the seventh inning. The Bisons came all the way back to tie the game at 12, only to have Charlotte collect the 3-1 series win with a walk-off victory in the ninth inning.

The Bisons just couldn’t find the answer to the top two hitters in the Charlotte’s line-up. Designated hitter Alejandro De Aza and centerfielder Buck Coats combined to go 10-12 with five runs scored and nine RBI. It was Coats who sent the Knights to victory with a two-out RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The game was tied at 12 apiece because the Herd rallied from an 11-5 deficit over the final three innings. Buffalo scored three in the seventh inning, two in the eight and two more in the ninth to pull even with the Knights in the 36-hit slugfest.

Every Bisons hitter in the lineup had at least one hit and one run scored. Fernando Martinez plated two of the three runs in the seventh with a two-out, bases-loaded single to centerfield.

Russ Adams hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, his second blast of the game. Lucas Duda then singled home a pair of runs in the ninth inning to tie the game.

The Bisons hit five home runs in the contest. Adams led off the game with a homer and Duda hit a two-run shot, his second in Triple-A, in the second. Andy Green solo shot came in the third inning and Valentino Pascucci launched his 10th of the season in the sixth inning.

It was the first time the Bisons hit five home runs in the game in over five years. The Bisons hit five homers on June 10, 2005 against Syracuse.

Despite the homers, it was Charlotte that led for most of the game. The Knights scored nine runs in the first three innings off Bisons starter Ramon Ortiz (0-1). De Aza and Coats both had a hit in each of the first three frames to help Charlotte build the big lead.

The Bisons will now return home for a five-game homestand that starts with two against Syracuse on Tuesday and Wednesday.

BISONS NOTES:Russ Adam’s multi-homer game was his first since 2005 with the Blue Jays. That year, Adams had a pair of two-homer games, both against Charlotte’s parent club, the Chicago White Sox…Adams became the second Bisons hitter to lead off a game with a home run this year. Jason Pridie led off the Herd’s contest against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 18 with a blast…Of Charlotte’s 21 hits, only three went for extra-bases (all doubles).