The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (50-28) and the Buffalo Bisons (30-47) played game four on Friday night from Sahlen Field. Andrew Painer (3-2, 4.25 ERA) was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against C.J. Van Eyk (1-0, 4.75 ERA) of Buffalo.
In the bottom of the second inning, Buffalo designated hitter Phil Clarke brought home Leo Jimenez with a sacrifice fly to right field giving the Bisons a 1-0 lead. At the top of the third inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Payton Henry hit Van Eyk’s slider for a solo home run at 400 feet to center field tying the game 1-1. It was his fourth home run of the season.
Moving to the top of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley catcher Payton Henry hit an RBI double to left field scoring Rafael Lantigua for a 2-1 lead. It was Henry’s fourth double of the season.
Next, shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit Van Eyk’s curveball for a three-run home run at 410 feet to left-center field extending Lehigh Valley’s lead to 5-1. It was Castro’s seventh home run of the season.
Lehigh Valley designated hitter Oscar Mercado hit an RBI double to left field scoring Weston Wilson for a 6-1 lead. Then, center fielder Cal Stevenson hit an RBI single to right field scoring Mercado for a 7-1 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Buffalo left fielder Joey Loperfido hit an RBI single to left field scoring Josh Rivera and it was now 7-2.
At the top of the sixth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when left fielder Justin Crawford brought home Nick Dunn with a sacrifice fly to left field for an 8-2 lead. It was his 29th RBI of the season.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Buffalo third baseman Michael Stefanic hit an RBI single to center field scoring Josh Rivera and it was now 8-3. With one out, Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Josh Walker got Will Robertson to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. The IronPigs defeated the Bisons by the final score of 8-3 to win their fourth consecutive game and win the series with two games left to play.
Lehigh Valley starter Andrew Painer pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five hits, two runs, one walk, and five strikeouts throwing 91 pitches, of which 64 were strikes.
The win went to Lehigh Valley relief pitcher Nicholas Padilla. It was his third win of the season as he pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three hits, one walk, and two strikeouts throwing 41 pitches, of which 23 were strikes. The loss went to Buffalo starter C.J. Van Eyk.
Lehigh Valley shortstop Rodolfo Castro went 2 for 4 with a double, a home run, and three RBIs, while catcher Payton Henry went 2 for 4 with a home run, a double, and two RBIs.
The IronPigs and Bisons play game five on Saturday at 6:35 pm.
