The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (53-68) comeback attempt came up short Saturday afternoon at Sahlen Field in a 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Bisons (74-47).
Mauricio Llovera (2-1, 3.65 ERA) started for Lehigh Valley against Buffalo’s Zach Logue (7-3, 3.43 ERA).
In the bottom of the first inning, with a Bisons’ runner on first base, Bisons shortstop Otto Lopez doubled on a line drive to left field, scoring Forrest Wall to take a 1-0 lead.
After Llovera loaded the bases with two straight walks, Bisons second baseman Cullen Large’s hit a sacrifice fly out to center field. This was deep enough to score Lopez for a 2-0 lead.
At the top of the fourth inning, the IronPigs cut the lead 2-1 on Alec Bohm’s solo home run out towards left-center field. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jakob Hernandez was the new IronPigs pitcher. Mauricio Llovera threw 64 pitches (3.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO).
In the bottom of the fifth inning with Bison’s runners on first and second base, Brian Marconi was the new IronPigs pitcher, replacing Jakob Hernandez. Marconi walked Bisons right fielder Gregory Polanco to load the bases. Then, Marconi walked second baseman Cullen Large that brought home a run 3-1, followed by hitting third baseman Christian Colon for a 4-1 lead.
At the top of the sixth inning, with IronPigs runners on first and second base, shortstop Bryson Stott singled on a ground ball to right field. This scored Alec Bohm, which cut the Bisons lead 4-2.
At the top of the eighth inning, with IronPigs runners on first and second base, second baseman C.J. Chatham’s RBI single to right field cut the Bisons lead to one 4-3. With the bases loaded for right fielder Cornelius Randolph, he struck out to end the inning.
At the top of the ninth inning, Bisons pitcher Jacob Barnes finished off the IronPigs. Their comeback attempt fell short for a 4-3 loss. The IronPigs have now lost three straight games.
The win went to Bisons pitcher Zach Logue (5.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR), while the loss went to IronPigs pitcher Mauricio Llovera. Bisons pitcher Jacob Barnes (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 SO) earned his second save of the season.
The IronPigs wrap up their season series with the Bisons today at 6:05 pm. Hans Crouse (0-0, 6.23 ERA) starts for Lehigh Valley against Buffalo’s Anthony Kay (0-4, 9.62 ERA).
