Clarke's Walk-Off Give Bisons a Doubleheader Split
IL Buffalo Bisons

Clarke's Walk-Off Give Bisons a Doubleheader Split

Published on August 22, 2025 under International League (IL)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


Thursday was 'Guaranteed Win Night' at Sahlen Field and thanks to Phil Clarke's extra-inning heroics, the Bisons backed up their words.

Clarke's ninth-inning single off the glove of second baseman Jorbit Vivas scored Riley Tirotta from second base and lifted the Bisons to a 4-3 victory over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in game two of their Thursday doubleheader from Sahlen Field. The RailRiders scored a last at-bat win of their own in game one, scoring two in the top of the seventh inning to win 5-3.

With the game two victory, all Bisons fans in attendance can now exchange their game-used ticket from Thursday night at the Sahlen Field Box Office for a free ticket to any game during the club's September 2-7 homestand.

Clarke's game-winner came after both teams scored twice in the eighth to extend the game and Hayden Juenger retired the RailRiders in order in the ninth. The Bisons backstop stung an 0-2 pitch from Scott Effross well, getting on top of a fastball and grounding it between first and second base. Vivas dove to his left and the ball deflected off his glove and into shallow right field. As the ball rolled towards the foul line, Tirotta scored easily from second to give Buffalo the win.

The Bisons first got on the board in game two thanks to a monster solo home run from Jonatan Clase. Trailing 1-0 in the third, Clase's fifth homer with the Herd flew over the ballpark's Bully Hill Party Deck in right field at an estimated 413 ft.

Buffalo was then down 3-1 after the RailRiders scored a pair in the top of the eighth inning. Clase cut the deficit in half when his sacrifice fly brought home Clarke and Joey Loperfido kept the game alive with his two-out double to deep centerfield.

Not factoring in the game two decisions, Buffalo starter C.J. Van Eyk was very impressive. The righty allowed just an unearned run over five innings and struck out seven without issuing a free walk.

Also impressive on Thursday was Blue Jays Top prospect, Trey Yesavage. Yesavage started game one and racked up eight strikeouts over 4.2 innings of work. The righty struck out two batters in each of the first four innings of his night, and followed the RailRiders three-run rally in the second inning by retiring 11 of the final 13 batters he faced.

Trey Yesavage struck out eight in his second career Triple-A game.Marissa Packard

Yesavage left the game having issued just two walks in 19 batters faced after walking four batters in 1.2 innings of work his Triple-A debut last Thursday.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre spoiled a nice Bisons comeback with the 5-3 victory in game one. Buffalo rallied from three runs down to tie the game through six innings, only to have the RailRiders plate a pair in the top of the seventh for the win.

Scranton shortstop Braden Shewmake provided the game-winning hit when he grounded a triple just inside the first base bag and into the right field corner to cash in Jeimer Candelario. On the very next pitch from Herd reliver, Ryan Jennings, Duke Ellis doubled into the right-centerfield gap to score Shewmake.

Trailing 3-0 early in game one, the Bisons got an RBI double from R.J. Shreck and a run-scoring single from Yohendrick Pinango in the bottom of the third to close to 3-2. Christian Bethancourt temporarily tied the game with his seventh home run of the season with one out in the sixth inning.

The Bisons will host the RailRiders again for a Honda fridaynightbash! at Sahlen Field. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

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International League Stories from August 22, 2025


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