Buffalo, N.Y. – Buffalo Bisons manager Casey Candaele reached a milestone on Wednesday night at Sahlen Field, winning his 300th career game as the Herd won their season-high fourth straight game, defeating the Rochester Red Wings 5-3 on Wednesday night at Sahlen Field.
Candaele became only the second skipper in the modern era for the Bisons to reach the 300-win mark, behind only Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Marty Brown, who has 312 wins. The Bisons rode the backs of an excellent evening by the bullpen and a three-run fifth to help Candaele reach that milestone.
Adam Macko got the start for the Bisons, and he was immediately on the receiving end of some bad luck in the first as a ground ball by Rochester’s leadoff man, Robert Hassell III, bounced past Rainer Nunez at first base, and Hassell made it all the way to third on the error. He then scored the game’s first run on a sac fly by Yohandy Morales.
The Herd answered right back with a run in the bottom of the first against opener Jack Sinclair. Jonatan Clase led it off with a single on the first pitch he saw in Triple-A since May 6, then stole second. A ground ball by Joey Loperfido got him to third, then a Riley Tirotta grounder brought him home to tie the game at 1.
Rochester put up earned runs against Macko in the third. A challenge on a payoff pitch by José Tena led to him walking, then with two outs, Nick Schnell sent one deep to right for a two-run homer, giving the Red Wings a 3-1 lead. Macko then gave up three straight baserunners, but he left them all stranded.
Buffalo got a run closer in the third as Josh Rivera had a one-out single, then with two out, a hit-and-run on a Loperfido double saw him score to make it 3-2.
With two on in the top of the fourth, Macko ended his day with a strikeout of Trey Lipscomb for the second out. Bobby Milacki entered and struck out Schnell to end the frame.
Macko had to navigate a lot of traffic in his fifth start for the Herd this season, as he allowed seven hits and walked three batters in 3.2 innings. However, only two of his three runs allowed were earned.
The Bisons loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but back-to-back strikeouts by Rivera and Clase left the runners stranded.
Loperfido singled to begin the bottom of the fifth, then Tirotta, Will Robertson and Nunez had consecutive RBI doubles against Marquis Grissom Jr. and gave the Herd their first lead at 5-3.
Between Macko, Milacki and Jacob Barnes, the Bisons retired 10 straight Red Wings from the fourth into the seventh, with the last going 1-2-3 in the fifth and sixth, respectively. Loperfido helped out Barnes with a diving catch in right field for the first out in the sixth.
Barnes allowed back-to-back two-out baserunners in the seventh, but Trenton Wallace got Darren Baker to ground into a force out to end the threat.
Ryan Burr pitched a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts for the Herd, but Buffalo couldn’t get on the scoreboard in their half, leaving Hayden Juenger to pitch the ninth, and he worked around an infield single for his second save of the season to seal the deal.
The Bisons and Red Wings will play the third game of this six-game set, the last before the series shifts to Rochester, on Thursday at Sahlen Field at 6:05 p.m. RHP CJ Van Eyk will start on the mound for the Herd. You can listen to the action on The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy app, and Bisons.com starting at 5:45 p.m. with Pat Malacaro and Duke McGuire.
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