Buffalo, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bisons had three-hit games from Michael Stefanic and Rainer Nunez against the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday night, and those and Nunez’s three RBIs were vital to their 5-2 victory.
Neither side could get on base until the bottom of the third, as Doug Nikhazy and Lazaro Estrada had a streak of 14 straight retired to begin the game between them. It ended when Yordys Valdes scorched a two-out double in the top of the third for Columbus, but he would be left stranded there.
Buffalo managed its first baserunner in the bottom of the third when Josh Rivera singled on a ground ball under Valdes’ glove at second base with two outs, but he and Stefanic, who then walked, would also be stranded.
The scoring started with the first batter of the top of the fourth as Brayan Rocchio drilled a ball high off the right-field wall and turned on the jets for third base. Riley Tirotta’s throw from right hit Rocchio and kicked into shallow left field as he dove headfirst into third, allowing him to score for a 1-0 Clippers lead.
Buffalo would no longer let Nikhazy have his way with them in the bottom of the fourth, as Tirotta singled to start the frame, notching his eighth straight game with a hit. Then with one out, Yohendrick Pinango tripled over the head of Petey Halpin in center field to score Tirotta from first base for the Herd’s first run. Nunez followed that up with a single to right to give Buffalo their first lead at 2-1.
Stefanic singled and Tirotta walked in the bottom of the fifth, but they would be left stranded.
Estrada pitched into the sixth inning but was called for a pitch clock violation with a full count and two out to walk Chase DeLauter, and that spelled the end of his day. That turned out to be key, as Dillon Tate issued a walk after he replaced Estrada, then C.J. Kayfus made Buffalo pay by bringing DeLauter home with an opposite-field single to left, tying the game at two.
Estrada only allowed four baserunners on three hits and a walk in his 5 and two-third innings of work and tied a season high with six strikeouts.
In the bottom of the sixth, Nunez grounded a single through the right side with one out to knock Nikhazy out of the game, but even after a wild pitch got him to second, he couldn’t move any further in that inning.
Rivera and Stefanic singled against Parker Mushinski to start the bottom of the seventh, then Joey Loperfido got them up a base with a sacrifice bunt to third. Tirotta then was intentionally walked to bring up Orelvis Martinez with the bases loaded, who battled Mushinski for eight pitches before earning an RBI with a full-count walk, giving Buffalo the lead back at 3-2.
With two outs, Nunez walked the tightrope, but came out on top with a two-run single just over the glove of Rocchio at short to extend Buffalo’s lead to 5-2.
Nunez had his first career three-hit game at Triple-A and his first overall three-hit game since September 12, 2024 with Double-A New Hampshire. He recorded six three-hit games with the Fisher Cats in 2024.
Stefanic notched his fifth three-hit game of the season with a line-drive single into center field in the bottom of the eighth.
Bobby Milacki worked around a one-out single in the eighth for a scoreless frame, then Tommy Nance navigated past a leadoff walk to finish the victory for Buffalo and pick up his team-leading fourth save of the season.
Buffalo and Columbus are scheduled to meet for the third game of the series at 6:35 p.m. at Sahlen Field on Thursday night. Adam Kloffenstein will be on the mound for the Bisons. You can listen to the action on The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy app, and Bisons.com starting at 6:15 p.m. with Pat Malacaro and Duke McGuire.