Red Wings rally past Bisons, 6-3, in 10 innings

Stranding 11 runners on base and hitting 2-17 with runners in scoring position, the Buffalo Bisons dropped the series opener to the Rochester Red Wings Tuesday 6-3 due to a plethora of missed opportunities and late-game heroics from the Red Wings.

The Bisons got on the board first in the game with a three-run home run from Nash Knight in the second inning, his first of the year, to give the Bisons a 3-0 lead. But immediately following the long ball, the Bisons’ bats fell silent.

The Bisons failed to add insurance runs despite putting the lead-off runner on base in the first, fourth, seventh and eighth innings. Four times they had a runner on third base and less than two outs and didn’t score.

“We had opportunities to put the game away but that is the way the game is,” said Bisons manager Casey Candaele. “They did what they needed to do to keep runs from scoring.”

The failure to push any insurance runs across allowed the Red Wings to chip away at the lead. An RBI single from Adrian Sanchez in the fourth and a Ruady Read home run in the eighth sent the game to the ninth with the Bisons clinging to a 3-2 lead.

Then with closer Kirby Snead on the mound in the ninth, Knight let a potential doubleplay ball go through his legs at third base for a costly error. Instead of having two outs, the Red Wings would eventual load the bases with just one and then tie the game on a RBI-groundout from Gerardo Parra.

Tied at three heading into the tenth, the Red Wings capitalized scoring three runs on an RBI double from Yasmany Tomas and a towering two-run home run from Daniel Palka that would be enough to give the Red Wings the win.

The lack of run support squandered a strong performance from the Bisons’ starter Nick Allgeyer who pitched six innings and gave up one run for the second consecutive start.

Using his short and compact delivery that shields the ball well, Allgeyer struck out four batters and gave up five hits. Allgeyer had Red Wings batters biting on his diving slider to the outside of the plate while also getting crafty and changing up speeds with a change up on the outside of the plate.

Allgeyer also got help from his fielders including a marvelous leaping catch for a line out from Dilson Herrera to end the third inning and an outfield assist from Logan Warmoth to catch a runner at second. The Bisons played clean defensive baseball producing zero errors.

“We played pretty well,” said Candaele. “And then you know some things happen late in games and that is why baseball is wonderful.”

4-3 after the loss, the Bisons will face the Red Wings again Wednesday for game two. Hard-throwing righty Alek Manoah is expected to start for the Bisons against the Red Wings’ lefty Ben Braymer.