Buffalo, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bisons and Columbus Clippers traded blows in the fourth game of their six-game series in Buffalo on Friday night, but a three-run ninth by the Herd was topped off by a walk-off infield single for Riley Tirotta and a 6-5 win Friday night.
A crowd of 11,614 were in attendance to see a Max Scherzer make a Major League injury rehab start for the Bisons. The three-time Cy Young winner allowed four hits in 4 1/3 innings while giving up just two earned runs and striking out four Columbus batters. The start was the first for the right-hander since suffering a right thumb injury in his first start of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Will Wagner took the Clippers’ Austin Peterson’s first pitch in Triple-A to the gap in left-center for a double in his first Bisons at-bat since May 10. He then advanced to third and scored the game’s first run on back-to-back singles by Michael Stefanic and Joey Loperfido.
C.J. Kayfus answered right back for the Clippers with a home run leading off the second inning to knot the game at 1 against Scherzer, who made a rehab start Friday.
Josh Rivera singled into center field to start the bottom of the third, then with two outs, Loperfido hit a ball off the right-field wall for an RBI double to give the Herd the lead back at 2-1. It was his team-leading 13th double of the season.
Tirotta followed with an infield hit to extend his hitting streak to double digits at 10 games, but after that, Yohendrick Piñango had two RBIs taken away by a sliding catch in center field.
With the first two runners at the corners in the top of the fourth, Kayfus had his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 2. That would be all Scherzer allowed as he exited the game after getting the first out in the bottom of the fifth to a very appreciative crowd at Sahlen Field.
2 1/3 scoreless innings between Buffalo’s Kevin Gowdy and Anders Tolhurst changed in the top of the seventh. Against Tolhurst, Kyle Datres hit an opposite-field homer to right with two outs in the inning, giving the Clippers their first lead of the game at 3-2.
Buffalo fought right back in the bottom of the seventh, as Phil Clarke pulled a homer to right center, tying the game at 3 leading off the frame. It was the Herd’s first home run of the series.
In the bottom of the eighth, Columbus got their first two runners on base and Brayan Rocchio stole second, but Tolhurst struck out the next two, and a batter later, Kody Huff came to the plate with the bases loaded.
Huff lined a ball to right field for an RBI single, giving Columbus a 4-3 lead, but Tirotta gunned down Rocchio at the plate on the play to keep it a one-run game.
The Clippers got a two-out insurance run in the bottom of the ninth as Yordys Valdes tripled into right-center field, then scored on a passed ball by Clarke during the next at-bat.
Tolhurst gave the remainder of the Buffalo bullpen some rest, going four innings while striking out five batters and giving up just two earned runs.
The Bisons roared back in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles by Rainer Nunez and Clarke to start the frame. After that, a sac bunt by Rivera yielded a run off a throwing error by pitcher Franco Aleman as pinch runner RJ Schreck scored from second, bringing Buffalo back within a run.
Next up, Wagner shot one toward the left-field corner that took an unfortunate hop over the wall for a ground-rule double, but it still tied the game and brought the winning run to third base.
With one out and the bases loaded and facing Luis Frias, Tirotta chopped the first pitch up the middle that bounced off Rocchio’s glove at second base for a single, giving the Bisons a walk-off win with a 6-5 final.
The Bisons and Clippers will play the fifth game of the six-game series at 6:35 p.m. at Sahlen Field on Saturday night. Adam Macko will take 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.