The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (23-29) visited Sahlen Field on Tuesday night to begin a six-game series against the Buffalo Bisons (26-26). Drake Fellows was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Pat Gallagher of Buffalo. Before the game, the IronPigs welcomed back outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr., and they released infielder Sergio Alcantara.
Lehigh Valley starter Drake Fellows pitched three scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two strikeouts, throwing 54 pitches, of which 30 were strikes. At the top of the fourth inning, Lehigh Valley had a runner on third base when Liover Peguero hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Felix Reyes scored for a 1-0 lead. With two outs, a lineout by Christian Cairo ended the inning.
Alan Rangel was the new pitcher for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Buffalo had a runner on second base when Josh Kasevich hit an RBI triple to right field. Gabriel Rincones Jr. tried to make a diving catch, but could not complete the catch. The ball rolled to the right field wall. Jonatan Clase scored, and the game was tied 1-1.
Willie MacIver followed up by hitting an RBI single to right field, scoring Josh Kasevich to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. With two outs, a flyout by Davis Schneider ended the inning. Alan Rangel pitched three innings, allowing three hits, two runs, four walks, and three strikeouts, throwing 57 pitches, of which 34 were strikes.
Zach Pop pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the seventh inning. Buffalo had runners on the corners when Josh Kasevich hit an RBI single to center field. Charles McAdoo scored for a 3-1 lead. With two outs, Willie MacIver hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Pop allowed three hits and one run, throwing 15 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley second baseman Dylan Moore hit Conor Larkin’s curveball for a solo home run at 381 feet to left-center field. The IronPigs trailed the Bisons 3-2. It was Moore’s first home run of the season. Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners with two outs, but a pop-out by Liover Peguero ended the inning.
Max Lazar pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. Lazar walked two and struck out one, throwing 27 pitches, of which 13 were strikes, to get three outs.
At the top of the ninth inning, Lehigh Valley was down to its last out when third baseman Carter Kieboom hit Jesse Hahn’s sweeper for a solo home run at 357 feet to left field, and the game was tied 3-3. It was Kieboom’s third home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 89.5 mph.
Seth Johnson pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. Johnson struck out one, throwing 11 pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get three outs and send the game to extra innings.
Lehigh Valley second baseman Dylan Moore started the top of the tenth inning at second base. With one out, Steward Berroa worked a four-pitch walk. Left fielder Felix Reyes followed by hitting an RBI single to center field. Moore scored to give the IronPigs a 4-3 lead. Gabriel Rincones Jr. grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Nolan Hoffman pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the tenth inning. Josh Kasevich started at second base. Hoffman allowed a hit and a walk to load the bases. Josh Rivera ended the game by hitting a two-run RBI single to shortstop Christian Cairo. Willie MacIver and Je’Von Ward scored. The IronPigs lost the opening series by the final score of 5-4 in ten innings.
Lehigh Valley finished the night with eight hits, went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Dylan Moore went 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI. The loss went to Lehigh Valley pitcher Nolan Hoffman (1-1), and the win went to Buffalo pitcher Hayden Juenger (1-2).
The IronPigs and Bisons play game two on Wednesday at 1:05 pm on the MLB App. Tucker Davidson (3-1, 4.84 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley against C.J. Van Eyk (2-2, 3.53 ERA) of Buffalo.
