The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (37-42) recovered after blowing a seven-run lead to beat the Buffalo Bisons (47-32) 10-9 Friday night at Coca-Cola Park.
On the mound for Lehigh Valley was David Parkinson (1-7, 6-36 ERA), who was looking for his second win against Buffalo’s Bowden Francis (2-1, 3.18 ERA).
Lehigh Valley jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on an RBI single by catcher Rafael Marchan. Three batters later, IronPigs right fielder Matt Vierling hit an RBI single to right field, extending the lead 2-0. With the bases loaded, Lehigh Valley first baseman Darick Hall blew the game open with a grand slam to right field for a 6-0 lead. It was Hall’s eighth home run of the year and the first grand slam for Lehigh Valley this year.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with a runner on first base, IronPigs second baseman Nick Maton doubled to right field, bringing another run home for a 7-0 lead.
Then, Buffalo began to come back starting at the top of the fifth inning when second baseman Dilson Herrera hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to cut the IronPigs lead 7-3. However, Lehigh Valley would get one of the runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Jorge Bonifacio.
At the top of the seventh inning, the Bisons pulled within a run 8-7 after first baseman Tyler White hit a grand slam to center field. Then, at the top of the ninth inning, Dilson Herrera tied the game with a solo home run to left field. It was his tenth home run of the season.
Buffalo took a 9-8 lead in extra innings after first baseman Tyler White hit an RBI single to right field at the top of the tenth inning. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the tenth inning, IronPigs catcher Rafael Marchan ended the game with a two-run single to right field that secured an IronPigs win 10-9 over Buffalo.
Lehigh Valley starting pitcher David Parkinson finished the night (5.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 SO, 1 HR). The win went to IronPigs pitcher Jakob Hernandez (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R), while the loss went to Buffalo’s Bryan Baker (0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB).
Game four of the six-game series is today at 6:35 pm. On the mound for Lehigh Valley is David Paulino (3-2, 3.99 ERA) versus Buffalo’s Zach Logue (3-2, 4.06 ERA).
