The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (27-33) played game five of a six-game homestand on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bisons (31-31) from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips (5-3, 5.45 ERA) was on the mound against Buffalo’s Troy Watson (2-3, 6.75 ERA)
At the top of the first inning, Buffalo center fielder Steward Berroa hit Phillips’s sinker for a solo home run over the wall at right-center field putting Buffalo up 1-0. Phillips gave up a double with two outs to Orelvis Martinez before getting a ground out by Michael Turconi to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when right fielder Ruben Cardenas hit an RBI double on a pop-up to first baseman Phil Clark, deflected by second baseman Orelvis Martinez scoring Scott Kingery and the game was tied 1-1. It was Cardenas’s 12th double of the season and 29th RBI of the year. Cardenas was acquired by the Phillies on Thursday for cash considerations. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Lehigh Valley blew the game open in the bottom of the second inning. With a runner on first base, Lehigh Valley second baseman Jim Haley hit Watson’s fastball for a two-run home run over the wall at left field for a 3-1 lead. It was Haley’s second home run of the season and eighth RBI of the year.
Five batters later, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when right fielder Ruben Cardenas hit Watson’s sweeper for a three-run home run over the wall at left field extending their lead to 6-1. It was Cardenas’s 12th home run of the season and 32nd RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.
Moving ahead to the top of the sixth inning, Buffalo had runners on second and third base when pitcher Tyler Phillips threw a wild pitch scoring Addison Barger and the score was now 6-2 Lehigh Valley.
After walking Brain Serven, Phillips threw another wild pitch and Orelvis Martinez scored and Lehigh Valley’s lead was down to 6-3. Phillips struck out Will Robertson to end the inning. Phillips finished the night pitching seven innings, allowing six hits, three runs, one walk, and nine strikeouts throwing 94 pitches, of which 65 were strikes.
Moving to the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley right fielder Ruben Cardenas hit Brandon Eisert’s changeup for a solo home run onto the berm at center fielder for a 7-3 lead. It was Cardenas’s 13th home run of the season and 33rd RBI of the year.
Freddy Tarnok was the new Lehigh Valley pitcher at the top of the eighth inning. He walked one batter throwing 11 pitches, of which five were strikes to get three outs.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded with two outs when Ruben Cardenas worked a four-pitch walk scoring Scott Kingery for an 8-3 lead. Then, Simon Muzziotti reached first base on a fielder’s choice scoring Trevor Schwecke for a 9-3 lead. Cody Roberts struck out swinging to end the inning.
Taylor Lehman was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He struck out Brian Serven and Will Robertson before getting Cam Eden to ground out toward shortstop Scott Kingery, who threw the ball to first baseman Nick Podkul for the final out of the game. The IronPigs defeated the Buffalo Bisons by the final score of 9-3. Lehman threw 11 pitches, of which 8 were strikes.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with 11 hits and committed one error. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Tyler Phillips. It was Phillips’s sixth win of the season and the loss went to Buffalo pitcher Troy Watson.
Lehigh Valley wraps up the six-game homestand against Buffalo on Sunday at 1:35 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Fanatics and Rally House.
