The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (73-59, 36-23) and the Buffalo Bisons (68-64, 34-23) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night at Sahlen Field. The IronPigs trail the series 1-0.
Tyler Phillips (0-1, 3.94 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley making his seventh start of the season against Buffalo’s Zach Thompson (6-5, 4.76 ERA).
Lehigh Valley had a couple of chances to take the lead in the first two innings. At the top of the first inning, Kody Clemens started the inning working a four-pitch walk.
Three batters later with two outs, Dustin Peterson put the ball down for a base hit to right field moving Clemens to third base. Esteban Quiroz was next. He flew out toward right fielder Addison Barger which ended the inning.
At the top of the second inning with two outs, Cal Stevenson worked a four-pitch walk. Then, Brewer Hicklen put the ball down for a base hit to right field moving Stevenson to third base. Kody Clemens was next but struck out swinging which ended the inning.
Then, Lehigh Valley got on the board at the top of the third inning. Matt Kroon started the inning with a double to left field. Next, Darick Hall moved Kroon to third base with a groundout toward first baseman Luis De Los Santos with Dustin Peterson up to bat. Peterson worked a four-pitch walk.
Esteban Quiroz was next. He hit the ball deep to left field but Nathan Lukes caught it to bring Kroon home and Peterson ran to second base. Lehigh Valley led 1-0. It was Quiroz’s 54th RBI of the season.
After Thompson walked Aramis Garcia, Buffalo replaced him with Yosver Zulueta. Jim Haley was next but he struck out swinging that ended the inning.
Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley almost gave up the lead. Tyler Phillips gave up a double to Cam Eden with one out. Next, Nathan Lukes moved Eden to third base with a single to right field. Then, he walked Damiano Palmegiani which loaded the bases for Addison Barger. Barger hit the ball toward first baseman Darick Hall for an inning-ending 3-2-3 double play.
However, Lehigh Valley’s lead disappeared in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tyler Phillips gave up a single to Orelvis Martinez to start the inning. Next, he walked Tanner Morris before Luis De Los Santos reached first base on a fielder’s choice on a fielding error by Jim Haley.
The bases were loaded for Leo Jimenez but before he stepped up to the plate, the IronPigs made a pitching change replacing Phillips with Luis Ortiz. Ortiz got Jimenez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play but Martinez scored and the game was tied 1-1.
Then, Ortiz got Jamie Richie to ground out toward third baseman Esteban Quiroz, who made the throw to first baseman Darick Hall which ended the inning. Tyler Phillips finished the night pitching five innings, allowing six hits, one run, four walks, and three strikeouts in 90 pitches, of which 51 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley battled back at the top of the seventh inning. Paul Fry was the new Buffalo pitcher. Fry walked Cal Stevenson and Brewer Hicklen to begin the inning. Next, Kody Clemens hit the ball off the glove of first baseman Luis De Los Santos, who tossed the ball to shortstop Leo Jimenez for the forceout at second base.
Matt Kroon was next. He doubled on a sharp line drive to left field scoring Stevenson that made it 2-1 IronPigs. It was Kroon’s seventh double of the season and fourth RBI of the year.
Darick Hall followed up with a sacrifice fly toward right fielder Addison Barger to score Clemens for a 3-1 lead. It was Hall’s 49th RBI of the year. Buffalo made another pitching change with Connor Cooke replacing Paul Fry. Cooke struck out Dustin Peterson for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Luis Ortiz gave up a single to Cam Eden with one out. Next, Ortiz was called for a balk and Eden moved to second base with Damiano Palmegiani batting.
Palmegiani hit a high fly ball to center field for a double scoring Eden which made it 3-2 Lehigh Valley. Ortiz struck out Addison Barger and got Orelvis Martinez to fly out toward left fielder Brewer Hicklen which ended the inning.
Esteban Quiroz started the top of the eighth inning working a four-pitch walk. Next, Aramis Garcia doubled on a line drive to left field moving Quiroz to third base. Jim Haley was next. He brought Quiroz home with a sacrifice fly to center field which made it 4-2 and Garcia went to third base. It was Haley’s 52nd RBI of the season.
Cal Stevenson was next. He brought Garcia home with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 5-2 lead. It was Lehigh Valley’s fourth sacrifice fly of the night and Stevenson’s 26th RBI of the year. Next, Connor Cooke walked Brewer Hicklen and Kody Clemens before striking out Matt Kroon and the inning was over.
The IronPigs would cough up the lead again in the bottom of the eighth inning. Hector Perez was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley. He walked Tanner Morris, followed by hitting Luis De Los Santos on the elbow. Two batters later with one out, he walked Jamie Richie which loaded the bases for Cam Eden. Perez struck out Eden with a splitter.
Then, Nathan Lukes put the ball down for a base hit to left field scoring Morris which made it 5-3 Lehigh Valley. However, Perez walked both Damiano Palmegiani and Addison Barger with the bases loaded which forced in two runs, and the game was now tied 5-5. Perez was replaced by Yunior Marte, who ended the inning by striking out Orelvis Martinez.
Moving ahead to the top of the tenth inning, Rowan Wick was pitching for Buffalo with Esteban Quiroz starting at second base. However, Wick struck out the side.
Ben Bowden pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the tenth inning with Nathan Lukes starting at second base. He walked Damiano Palmegiani to begin the inning. However, Bowden got Addison Berger to pop out toward shortstop Scott Kingery, a flyout by Orelvis Martinez to right fielder Dustin Peterson before striking out Stevie Berman which ended the inning.
Lehigh Valley found a way to get the lead again at the top of the eleventh inning. Cal Stevenson started at second base. Rowan Wick walked Brewer Hicklen to start the inning. Two batters later with one out, Buffalo replaced Wick with Matt Wisler. Two batters later with two outs, Wisler walked Darick Hall which loaded the bases for Dustin Peterson.
On the first pitch, Peterson hit Wisler’s slider for a base hit to right field. The ball passed Addison Barger allowing everyone to come home for a bases-clearing double. It was now 8-5 Lehigh Valley. Peterson now has 13 doubles this season with 51 RBIs. A groundout by Scott Kingery ended the inning.
Ben Bowden remained the IronPigs pitcher in the bottom of the eleventh inning. Steward Berroa started the inning on second base. Bowden got Rafael Lantigua to flyout toward center fielder Cal Stevenson, a lineout by Leo Jimenez toward shortstop Scott Kingery, and struck out Jamie Richie that ended the game. The IronPigs ended the Bisons’ eight-game winning streak with an 8-5 win.
It was not easy but the IronPigs found a way to win the game. Lehigh Valley finished the game with six hits, committed one error, went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 men on base. Ben Bowden won his sixth game of the season for Lehigh Valley, while Rowan Wick lost his fourth game of the year for Buffalo.
The IronPigs and Bisons play game three on Thursday at 6:05 pm on MiLB.com. Tickets for the game are available on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics.com.
