The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (43-44) played game two of a six-game series on Wednesday night from Coca-Cola Park against the Buffalo Bisons (41-47). Lehigh Valley pitcher Nick Nelson (2-3, 7.83 ERA) was on the mound against Buffalo’s Ricky Tiedemann (0-1, 4.96 ERA).
At the top of the first inning, Buffalo had runners on the corners with two outs when designated hitter Riley Tirotta hit Nelson’s fastball for a three-run home run over the wall at right-center field for a 3-0 lead. A lineout by Damiano Palmegiani to third baseman Buddy Kennedy ended the inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when second baseman Jim Haley hit an RBI single right field scoring Weston Wilson and the score was now 3-1 Buffalo. It was Haley’s 24th RBI of the year.
In the bottom of the second inning, Beau Sulser was the new pitcher for Buffalo. Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when left fielder Weston Wilson hit an RBI single to left field. A fielding error by left fielder Damiano Palmegiani scored Aramis Garcia and the score was now 3-2 Buffalo. It was Wilson’s 55th RBI of the season.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz reached first base on a fielding error by shortstop Gabriel Cancel scoring Weston Wilson and the game was tied 3-3. It was Cruz’s second RBI of the season.
Two batters later, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when second baseman Jim Haley hit an RBI single to shortstop Gabriel Cancel scoring Buddy Kennedy to take a 4-3 lead. Two batters later with two outs and the bases loaded, Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery hit Sulser’s cutter clearing the bases with a grand slam onto the berm at center field for an 8-3 lead. It was Kingery’s 43rd home run of the season. The home run went 429 feet with an exit velocity of 105.9 mph.
Lehigh Valley catcher Cody Roberts hit a single to right field before Buffalo replaced Sulser with Mike Mayers. Aramis Garcia popped out toward catcher Brain Serven for the final out of the inning.
Lehigh Valley pitcher Nick Nelson (2.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 K) threw 54 pitches, of which 27 were strikes. Ricardo Pinto took over for Nelson with one out and a runner on first base at the top of the third inning. He threw seven pitchers to get the last two outs of the inning, of which four were strikes.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on second base with nobody out when shortstop Scott Kingery hit Mayers’s sinker for an RBI single to left field scoring Cal Stevenson for a 9-3 lead. It was Kingery’s 44th RBI of the season.
Lehigh Valley catcher Cody Roberts was next to bat. During his at-bat, Scott Kingery stole second base. It was Kingery’s 12th stolen base of the season. Then, Roberts hit Mayers’s fastball for an RBI double to left field scoring Kingery for a 10-3 lead. It was Roberts’s ninth double of the season and 11th RBI of the year.
Two batters later with one out and a runner on third base, Lehigh Valley left fielder Weston Wilson brought Roberts home with a sacrifice fly to center field making it 11-3. It was Wilson’s 56th RBI of the year. After third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit a single, right field Carlos De La Cruz flies out toward center fielder Will Robertson for the final out of the inning.
At the top of the fifth inning, Buffalo had the bases loaded with one out when Lehigh Valley pitcher Ricardo Pinto threw a wild pitch scoring Addison Barger and the score was now 11-4 Lehigh Valley. Then, Buffalo designated hitter Riley Tirotta hit an RBI single to center field scoring Gabriel Cancel. The score was now 11-5 Lehigh Valley. Pinto struck out Damiano Palmegiani and got Alan Roden to ground out toward second baseman Jim Haley to end the inning.
Ricardo Pinto (2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 K) threw 61 pitches, of which 34 were strikes. Taylor Lehman was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the sixth inning. Lehman (1.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 K) threw 25 pitches, of which 14 were strikes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with two outs when first baseman Nick Podkul hit an RBI single to pitcher Nick Fraze. A throwing error by Fraze allowed Aramis Garcia to score for a 12-5 lead. It was Podkul’s 30th RBI of the year. A strikeout by second baseman Jim Haley ended the inning.
Eury Ramos was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Ramos (1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K) threw 16 pitches, of which 10 were strikes to get three outs.
Eury Ramos (2.0 IP, 1 H, 3 K) threw 25 pitches, of which 17 were strikes. Max Lazar was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. Lazar (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K) threw 19 pitches, of which 12 were strikes to get the final three outs of the game.
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs defeated the Buffalo Bisons by the final score of 12-5. They finished the night with 15 hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Ricardo Pinto for his third win of the season while the loss went to Buffalo pitcher Beau Sulser. The series is now tied at one apiece.
The IronPigs and Bisons play game three on Thursday at 7:05 pm on MiLB.TV. Purchase IronPigs tickets for the 2024 season today on StubHub and Viagogo. Also, pick up IronPigs merchandise today at Rally House.
