The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (55-49, 19-12) and the Buffalo Bisons (53-53, 19-12) played game five on Saturday night from Coca-Cola Park. The series was knotted up at two apiece. The IronPigs are a game behind Buffalo for first place in the Second Half Division lead.
Nick Nelson (3-2, 4.56 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his 12th start of the season against Buffalo’s Jimmy Robbins (0-0, 0.00 ERA).
Lehigh Valley struck first in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Jimmy Robbins walked Scott Kingery. Next, Rafael Marchan hit a ground-rule double to left field. Drew Ellis had a chance to bring them home but he chased Robbins’s cutter for the second out.
Jim Haley was next. He put the ball down for a base hit to right field which brought home Kingery and Marchan. Jim Haley rounded the first base bag and hustled toward second base but right fielder Nathan Lukes threw the ball to shortstop Orelvis Martinez. Martinez applied the tag on Haley which ended the inning. Lehigh Valley led 2-0, and it was Haley’s 38th RBI of the season.
Moving ahead to the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley’s offense added more runs. Weston Wilson started the inning with a single, followed by Robbins walking Kody Clemens.
Aramis Garcia was next. He put the ball down for a double to the corner of left field. Weston Wilson and Kody Clemens scored for a 4-0 lead. It was Garcia’s eighth double of the year and 28th RBI of the season.
Two batters later with one out, Dustin Peterson hit a line drive to center field. Scott Kingery struck out and Rafael Marchan flies out toward right fielder Nathan Lukes, who made the catch that ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, Darick Hall hit Robbins’s cutter for a solo home run over the wall at right field. It was now 5-0 Lehigh Valley. The home run was Hall’s fourth of the season and 19th RBI of the year. It was also Hall’s first home run since June 28th in Rochester.
Next, Robbins walked Dustin Peterson before getting Scott Kingery to line out toward left fielder Spencer Horwitz for the second out. After giving up a single to Rafael Marchan, Buffalo changed pitchers with Junior Fernandez replacing Robbins.
The inning ended when Drew Ellis hit the ball toward third baseman Rafael Lantigua, who stepped on the third base bag which ended the inning.
At the top of the sixth inning, Buffalo got on the board. First, Nathan Lukes hit Nelson’s curveball for a double to right field. Then, Rafael Lantigua hit Nelson’s fastball for a ground-rule double on a one-hop over the wall at left field. Nathan Lukes scored and it was now 5-1 Lehigh Valley. Next, Nick Nelson walked Spencer Horwitz.
Three batters later with two outs, Nelson gave up a single to Luis De Los Santos on a fly ball to center field. Lehigh Valley center fielder Scott Kingery threw the ball to third baseman Drew Ellis to tag out Spencer Horwitz which ended the inning.
That was it for Nelson, he pitched six innings, allowing four hits, two runs, four walks, and three strikeouts in 92 pitches, of which 57 were strikes. Jeremy Walker was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the seventh inning. He threw 13 pitches, of which ten were strikes to get three outs.
Buffalo continued to get closer to Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Jeremy Walker walked Rafael Lantigua with one out. Next, Spencer Horwitz put the ball down for a base hit to left field moving Lantigua to third base.
Then, Orelvis Martinez brought Lantigua home with a sacrifice fly to left field. It was 5-3 Lehigh Valley with two outs for Addison Barger. Barger lined out toward center fielder Scott Kingery which ended the inning.
There was a scary situation in the bottom of the eighth inning during Scott Kingery’s at-bat. Kingery made contact off Zach Pop’s pitch and the ball hit the kneecap of catcher Tyler Heineman. Heineman was helped up by the trainers and limped off to the dugout. Jamie Richie replaced him. Lehigh Valley did not add any insurance runs.
Ben Bowden was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the ninth inning. Luis De Los Santos was the first to face Bowden. Bowden threw a hanging slider at Santos and he got all of it for a solo home run over the wall at left field. Suddenly, it was now 5-4 Lehigh Valley.
Then, Bowden got back-to-back flyouts from Mason McCoy and Jamie Richie. Cam Eden was the last hope for Buffalo to keep the game alive. On a 2-2 count, Bowden got Eden to chase a slider out of the strike zone for the final out of the game.
The IronPigs defeated the Bison by the final score of 5-4. They lead the series 3-2 and have a chance to win it on Sunday. The pitching nearly blew another game but luckily held on for the win. Lehigh Valley finished the night with seven hits, 3 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base. Nick Nelson earned his fourth win of the year for Lehigh Valley, and Jimmy Robbins lost his first game of the season for Buffalo.
The IronPigs close out the 12-game homestand on Sunday against the Bisons at 1:35 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
