Clippers top Bisons 5-2 as Yesavage struggles in home opener

Trey Yesavage’s first turn at Sahlen Field turned into an early reality check for one of the Blue Jays’ most watched arms. The Columbus Clippers beat the Buffalo Bisons 5-2 on Tuesday night in the opener of the six-game homestand, and the biggest blow came in Yesavage’s 64-pitch, 2.1-inning start.

The 22-year-old right-hander, ranked ninth on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list, allowed four runs, two earned, while walking four and striking out two. The trouble was less about raw stuff than about finishing the sequence. Yesavage struggled to locate consistently, and when he needed a clean out on a comebacker off Nolan Jones, the play slipped away. He could not handle it cleanly, then threw wildly to first, letting Travis Bazzana score all the way from first and moving Jones to third. Cooper Ingle followed with a broken-bat RBI single, and Petey Halpin later added a double as Columbus piled on during a rough stretch in the third.

That inning forced Buffalo into damage control and eventually brought Brendan Cellucci in to settle things down, but not before a sacrifice fly added another run and the Clippers had built a 4-1 cushion. For a pitcher on what was expected to be his final rehab stop before a possible return to Toronto, the outing underscored how much remains between prospect reputation and Triple-A execution. Yesavage opened his rehab assignment April 3 at Single-A Dunedin, where he started Opening Day after being sidelined in spring training by a right shoulder impingement. Against Columbus, the challenge was not just health, but command, pitch sequencing and the ability to put hitters away once he got them into the count.

Buffalo did scratch out offense. Rafael Lantigua reached on an error and scored when Josh Kasevich doubled, cutting into the deficit, and William Simoneit drove in a run with a single in the seventh to pull the Bisons within range. But the lineup never mounted sustained pressure, finishing with just four hits and going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The home setting had some extra noise around it, with Buffalo promoting the opener as a TWOsday at Sahlen Field and offering $2 Sahlen’s hot dogs. The crowd had a home-date feel, but Columbus made the decisive pitches and swings when the game tightened, and the Clippers left Buffalo with the cleaner line and the clearer win.