The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (19-19) played game five on Saturday night against the Buffalo Bisons (18-20) at Coca-Cola Park. Andrew Walling was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against C.J. Van Eyk of Buffalo.
At the top of the second inning, Andrew Walling loaded the bases. Lenny Torres Jr. replaced Walling. Torres Jr. walked Carlos Mendoza, forcing in a run. R.J. Schreck scored for a 1-0 lead. Next, he walked William Simoneit, and Riley Tirotta scored for a 2-0 lead.
With one out, Ismael Munguia grounded into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. Andrew Walling pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one hit, two runs, three walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 40 pitches, of which 22 were strikes.
At the top of the third inning, Buffalo had a runner on third base when Josh Kasevich hit an RBI single to left field. Jonatan Clase scored for a 3-0 lead. Later, Buffalo put two more runners on base when Riley Tirotta hit Torres Jr.’s slider for a three-run home run at 374 feet to left field for a 6-0 lead. It was Tirotta’s fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 108.1 mph. Torres Jr. struck out Carlos Mendoza, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base with two outs when Carter Kieboom hit an RBI single to second base. A throwing error by second baseman Carlos Mendoza scored Sergio Alcantara, and it was now 6-1. Next, Bryan De La Cruz reached first base on a fielding error by third baseman Josh Kasevich. Christian Cairo scored, and it was now 6-2.
Second baseman Liover Peguero hit an RBI double to left field. Carter Kieboom and Bryan De La Cruz scored. The IronPigs cut the deficit to 6-4. A flyout by Caleb Rickkets ended the inning.
Lenny Torres Jr. pitched 1.2 innings, allowing three hits, four runs, two walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 42 pitches, of which 21 were strikes. Zach Pop pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fourth inning. He struck out one, throwing 18 pitches, of which 13 were strikes.
Alan Rangel pitched for Lehigh Valley at the top of the fifth inning. Moving to the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on first and second base when Liover Peguero hit an RBI double to left field. Carter Kieboom scored, and it was now 6-5. Oscar Mercado hit a two-run RBI single to center field. Bryan De La Cruz and Liover Peguero scored to give the IronPigs a 7-6 lead. Mercado was caught stealing second base, and the inning was over.
At the top of the sixth inning, Buffalo shortstop Josh Rivera hit Rangel’s changeup for a solo home run at 361 feet to left field, and the game was tied 7-7. It was Rivera’s fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 93.1 mph. With two outs, a groundout by Ismael Munguia ended the inning.
At the top of the seventh inning, R.J. Schreck hit Rangel’s changeup for a two-run home run at 378 feet to right-center field for a 9-7 lead. It was his fifth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 104.1 mph. With two outs, a pop-out by Josh Rivera ended the inning.
Alan Rangel pitched five innings, allowing eight hits, three runs, and seven strikeouts, throwing 80 pitches, of which 56 were strikes. Lehigh Valley’s bats went quiet in the bottom of the ninth inning and went on to lose to the Bisons by the final score of 9-7.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with five hits, committed one error, went 4 for 15 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Liover Peguero went 2 for 3 with two doubles, a walk, a stolen base, and three RBIs. The loss went to Alan Rangel (2-4), and the win went to Buffalo pitcher Yariel Rodríguez (1-0), while Tanner Andrews (3) earned the save.
The IronPigs will look to split the series on Sunday against the Bisons at 1:15 pm on the MLB App. Bryse Wilson (2-3, 7.90 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Josh Fleming (0-2, 2.66 ERA) of Buffalo.
