Lehigh Valley belts two home runs to take the series lead over Buffalo

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (44-44) and the Buffalo Bisons (41-48) played game three of a six-game series on Thursday night from Coca-Cola Park. Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel (2-7, 6.58 ERA) was on the mound against Buffalo’s Paolo Espino (1-4, 5.00 ERA).

At the top of the first inning, Buffalo had the bases loaded with nobody out when right fielder Will Robertson brought Addison Barger home with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Next, Buffalo designated hitter Damiano Palmegiani hit an RBI double to left field scoring Gabriel Cancel for a 2-0 lead. It was Palmegiani’s ninth double of the season.

Then, Buffalo second baseman Rafael Lantigua hit a two-run RBI double to center field scoring Riley Tirotta and Damiano Palmegiani extending Buffalo’s lead to 4-0. Abel got a ground out from Alan Roden and struck out Cam Eden to end the inning.

In the bottom of the first inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on first base with one out when first baseman Darick Hall hit Espino’s changeup for an RBI double to right field scoring Buddy Kennedy and the score was now 4-1 Buffalo. It was Hall’s eighth double of the season and 39^th RBI of the year. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.

In the bottom of the second inning, Lehigh Valley shortstop Scott Kingery hit Espino’s fastball for a solo home run clearing the wall at left field to cut the deficit to 4-2. It was Kingery’s 17^th home run of the season and 45^th RBI of the year. The home run went 416 feet with an exit velocity of 109 mph. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.

At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley pitcher Mick Abel loaded the bases with three straight walks with one out. Buffalo left fielder Alan Roden brought Will Robertson home with a sacrifice fly to left field for a 5-2 lead. Abel struck out Cam Eden to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when first baseman Darick Hall hit an RBI ground out toward first baseman Riley Tirotta scoring Cal Stevenson and the score was now 5-3 Buffalo. It was Hall’s 40^th RBI of the year.

Next, Lehigh Valley right fielder Carlos De La Cruz hit an RBI single to center field scoring Buddy Kennedy. The score was now 5-4 Buffalo. It was Cruz’s third RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.

Lehigh Valley starter Mick Abel (3.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 7 BB, 4 K) threw 92 pitches, of which 47 were strikes. Tyler McKay replaced him at the top of the fourth inning with runners on second and third base with two outs. McKay got Will Robertson to ground out to end the inning. He threw three pitches, of which two were strikes.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with one out when first baseman Darick Hall hit an RBI ground out toward shortstop Addison Barger scoring Cal Stevenson, and the game was tied 5-5. It was Hall’s 41^st RBI of the season.

Next, Lehigh Valley right field Carlos De La Cruz hit an RBI double off the wall at center field scoring Buddy Kennedy to take a 6-5 lead. It was Cruz’s fourth RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.

Tyler McKay (2.1 IP, 1 H, 6 K) threw 37 pitches, of which 26 were strikes. Andrew Bellatti was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the seventh inning. Bellatti (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K) threw 19 pitches, of which 11 were strikes.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base with one out when third baseman Buddy Kennedy hit Erik Swanson’s splitter for an RBI double to left field scoring Cal Stevenson for a 7-5 lead. It was Kennedy’s 23^rd double of the season and 31^st RBI of the season. Lehigh Valley did not add any more runs in the inning.

Yunior Marte was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the eighth inning. Buffalo had a runner on second base with two outs when shortstop Addison Barger hit Marte’s slider for an RBI single to center field scoring Alan Roden and the score was now 7-6 Lehigh Valley. Marte struck out Gabriel Cancel to end the inning. Marte (1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K) threw 21 pitches, of which 12 were strikes.

In the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Lehigh Valley catcher Aramis Garcia hit Hayden Juenger’s cutter for a solo home run onto the berm at left-center field for an 8-6 lead. It was Garcia’s eighth home run of the season and 24^th RBI of the year. The home run went 422 feet with an exit velocity of 103.9 mph. Lehigh Valley designated hitter José Godoy struck out swinging and the inning was over.

Tyler Gilbert was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley at the top of the ninth inning. He got Buffalo first baseman Riley Tirotta to line out toward right fielder Carlos De La Cruz for the first out. Next, Gilbert struck out Will Robertson before getting Damiano Palmegiani to fly out toward left field A.J. Shaver for the final out of the game. Gilbert (1.0 IP, 1 K) threw 9 pitches, of which 7 were strikes.

The IronPigs defeated the Bisons by the final score of 8-6. Lehigh Valley finished the night with 12 hits. The win went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Tyler McKay for his second win of the season and Tyler Gilbert earned his fourth save of the season. The IronPigs lead this series two games to one.

 The IronPigs and Bisons play game four of the six-game series on Friday 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.