After getting stomped on Thursday night, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (24-24) took on the Buffalo Bisons (23-26) in game four of a six-game series from Coca-Cola Park. Coming into this game, Lehigh Valley won two of three games from the Bisons.
Bailey Falter (1-0, 7.94 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Buffalo’s Zach Thompson (1-3, 6.75 ERA).
At the top of the second inning with one out, Bailey Falter walked Jamie Ritchie. Then, Falter got Otto Lopez to ground into a forceout when third baseman Drew Ellis threw to second baseman Esteban Quiroz, getting Ritchie out at second but Lopez was safe at first base.
Luis De Los Santos was next with two outs. He singled on a slow roll toward second baseman Esteban Quiroz as Lopez moved up to second base. Cam Eden was next. He hit a two-run double to the corner of left field, scoring Lopez and Santos for a 2-0 lead. Falter picked up the final out of the inning when he got Rafael Lantigua to fly out toward Simon Muzziotti.
Lehigh Valley got cooking in the bottom of the third inning. Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia was up with two outs. He hit Thompson’s fastball for a solo home run 440 ft onto the berm at center field, cutting Buffalo’s lead 2-1. It was Garcia’s third home run of the year.
Jake Cave was next and doubled to right field as Drew Ellis walked toward home plate. He crushed Thompson’s fastball for a two-run home run into the seats at the Tiki Terrance & Oasis bar at left field 440 ft, putting Lehigh Valley up 3-2. It was Ellis’s fifth home run of the season. For Ellis, he now has 19 RBIs in eight games since his call-up on May 17th.. Jordan Qsar grounded out which ended the inning.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley built their lead. Simon Muzziotti singled to right field with one out. Then, Esteban Quiroz hit Thompson’s fastball toward the left field wall, scoring Muzziotti for a 4-2 lead.
Next, Jim Haley hit Thompson’s changeup for an RBI double to center field, scoring Quiroz for a 5-2 lead. Lehigh Valley was unable to add any more runs in the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Buffalo pitcher Zach Thompson walked Jake Cave and Drew Ellis before Buffalo took him out due to an injury and was replaced by Jackson Rees. Rees hit Jordan Qsar as Weston Wilson approached the plate.
Wilson grounded into a double play to shortstop Otto Lopez as he tossed the ball to second baseman Davis Schneider before throwing to first baseman Trevor Schwecke. Jake Cave scored for a 6-2 lead. Afterward, Rees threw a wild pitch, scoring Drew Ellis for a 7-2 lead. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
After giving up two runs early in the game, Lehigh Valley pitcher Bailey Falter settled down and did a nice job. He pitched six innings, allowing two hits, two runs, four walks, and four strikeouts in 89 pitches, of which 54 were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Jakob Hernandez pitched for Lehigh Valley. He gave up a home run to Davis Schneider to left field. It was 7-3 Lehigh Valley. Hernandez picked up the last three outs to end the inning.
Ben Bowden closed out the game for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He got three straight pop-ups to end the game as the IronPigs defeated the Bison by the final score of 7-3.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits, went 2-7 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Lehigh Valley pitcher Bailey Falter won his second game of the season, while the loss went to Buffalo’s Zach Thompson. It was his fourth loss of the season.
The IronPigs and Bisons play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
