The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (37-44) were unable to hold onto a 3-1 lead Sunday afternoon to succumb to the Buffalo Bisons (49-32) 9-3. Adonis Medina (3-5, 5.25 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley versus Buffalo’s Thomas Hatch (0-2, 3.15 ERA).
Lehigh Valley third baseman Matt Vierling drove in the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single to right field for a 1-0 lead. Then, first baseman Darick Hall hit a two-run home run over the right field wall for a 3-0 lead. It was Hall’s tenth home run of the season.
Adonis Medina (3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) pitched three scoreless innings for Lehigh Valley before being replaced by Jeff Singer. That’s when the game went downhill.
With a runner on third base, Buffalo first baseman Nash Knight singled to left field, bringing home a run that cut the IronPigs lead 3-1 at the top of the fifth inning.
Then at the top of the sixth inning, with runners on second and third base, Bisons second baseman Otto Lopez grounded out to second baseman Sal Gozzo for the first out while bringing home another run 3-2. Buffalo would tie the game 3-3 on an RBI single by first baseman Nash Knight, his second RBI of the game.
Buffalo blew the game open at the top of the seventh inning. With runners on the corners, Bisons right fielder Cullen Large hit an RBI double to left field for a 4-3 lead. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Buffalo first baseman Nash Knight brought home another run with a sacrifice fly to right field for a 5-3 lead. Then Bisons catcher Rodrigo Vigil added another run 6-3 on an RBI single to center field.
With runners on second and third base at the top of the eighth inning, a sacrifice fly to center field by Bisons third baseman Richard Urena made it 7-3. At the top of the ninth inning, Bisons left fielder Logan Warmoth drove two more runs with a single to left field for a 9-3 lead.
Bryan Baker was the new pitcher for Buffalo in the bottom of the ninth inning. He got the last three outs as the IronPigs split the series with Buffalo in a 9-3 loss.
The win went to Bisons starting pitcher Thomas Hatch (6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO, 1 HR), while IronPigs pitcher Jakob Hernandez (1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB) suffered his first loss of the season.
On Monday, Lehigh Valley will have off before heading to PNC Field to begin a six-game series with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Tuesday at 7:05 pm.
