Bisons fall in 12 innings to RailRiders, 10-5

In the longest game of the season, the Bisons fell to the RailRiders, 10-5, in 12 innings on Tuesday night in the opener of the team’s season-ending six-game homestand at Sahlen Field. A three-run triple from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre centerfielder Taylor Trammell in the top half of the 12^th was the decisive hit for a RailRiders team hoping to keep their postseason chances alive.

Buffalo had yet to play a 12-inning game this season in any of their previous 12 games that were tied after nine. Neither team scored in the 10^th and both clubs notched a run in the 11^th before the RailRiders struck for the big six-run game-winning rally.

The winning hit from Trammell came after Scranton/Wilkes-Barre loaded the bases with one out thanks to the free base runner and a pair of hit batters. Needing a doubleplay to get out of the inning, Bisons reliever Hayden Juenger got the ground ball he was looking for, but it was well struck by Trammell and eluded the dive from Bisons first baseman Riley Tirotta. The ball rolled into the right field corner and cleared the bases to give the RailRiders a 7-4 lead.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre added three more runs thanks to a three-run blast from Oscar Gonzalez that cleared the ballpark’s older configuration in centerfield to the tune of 436 feet.

Buffalo’s best chance to win the game came in the 10^th after they retired the RailRiders without a run in their half of the inning. With runners on first and second, Damiano Palmegiani ripped a line drive that missed the left field foul line by no more than a few inches. Several members of the Bisons players even left the dugout thinking the ball was fair, but it was correctly called foul. Palmegiani latter flew out to end the threat.

Buffalo scored a run in their half of the 12^th inning on a two-out RBI double from Josh Kasevich.

The game was tied through nine after the Herd erased an early 3-0 deficit. Alan Roden got Buffalo on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when he pulled a triple down the right field to score Jonatan Clase from third. For the red-hot Roden, the RBI was his 19^th in just 13 games this month and his 35^th run driven in since the start of August.

Then in the fifth inning, Orelvis Martinez blasted a two-run home run to center to tie the game. For the Blue Jays #2 rated prospect, the blast was his first since rejoining the Herd from suspension.

The Bisons trailed 3-0 early as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre got a two-run home run from Ben Rice in the first and a solo shot from Jorbit Vivas in the third. Both homers came off 23-year old southpaw Adam Macko in his Triple-A debut for Buffalo. The Blue Jays #9 rated prospect worked the first three innings of the game, allowing four hits while striking out three.

Macko was promoted to the Herd from Double-A New Hampshire earlier on Tuesday. The lefty was 5-5 with a 4.87 ERA in 16 starts with the Fisher Cats this season.

Buffalo used eight pitchers in the defeat. Juenger suffered the loss to fall to 3-4 on the season.