Herd's roster roulette continues

ROCHESTER -- The Buffalo Bisons announced some more roster moves prior to Saturday's game against the Rochester Red Wings in Frontier Field. The Cleveland Indians called up pitcher Cliff Lee from the Herd roster to join Ben Francisco, Luis Rivas and Mike Koplove, the trio that was recalled Friday night.

The big news today was that Buffalo pitcher John Koronka was designated for assignment, meaning he'll most likely not be available to start Monday's season finale if the game could determine Buffalo's playoff hopes. Koronka is 3-3, 3.54 in nine starts but had to be removed from Cleveland's 40-man roster to make room for Rivas, who was not a 40-man member.

The Indians must expose Koronka to waivers before he can be outrighted back to Buffalo. Assuming the lefty goes unclaimed, it's unlikely that he could clear waivers in time over a holiday weekend to be eligible to pitch for Buffalo Monday.

But before the Bisons can get to Monday, they've got to take care of business tonight. The Richmond Braves lead both Buffalo and Rochester by 1 1/2 games in the wild card race with three to play. If Richmond wins tonight at Norfolk, this evening's Buffalo-Rochester loser is out of the playoff chase.

Buffalo has reactivated infielder Trent Durrington from the disabled list and added two players from Double-A Akron, reliever Rich Rundles and outfielder Nate Panther. Jeremy Sowers (4-5) goes for his fourth straight win tonight as the starting pitcher.

Here's Buffalo's starting lineup:

• Joe Inglett, 2b
• Keith Ginter, 1b
• Shin-Soo Choo, rf
• Ryan Mulhern, dh
• Jason Cooper, lf
• Andy Marte, 3b
• Mike Rose, c
• Mike Rouse, ss
• Brian Barton, cf

---Mike Harrington