The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (25-29) and the Buffalo Bisons (26-28) played game three on Thursday afternoon from Sahlen Field. Bryse Wilson was on the mound for Lehigh Valley against Josh Fleming of Buffalo.
At the top of the second inning, Lehigh Valley had runners on the corners when catcher Paul McIntosh hit an RBI single to center field. Christian Cairo scored for a 1-0 lead. Robert Moore followed up by hitting an RBI double to center field. Dylan Moore scored to make it 2-0. Center fielder Dylan Carlson hit an RBI single to second base. Paul McIntosh scored for a 3-0 lead.
After a mound visit, Lehigh Valley left fielder Felix Reyes hit an RBI double to left field. Robert Moore scored for a 4-0 lead. Right fielder Bryan De La Cruz followed by hitting a two-run RBI double to left field, deflected by third baseman Rafael Lantigua. Dylan Carlson and Felix Reyes scored for a 6-0 lead. With two outs, Christian Cairo struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Lehigh Valley starter Bryse Wilson pitched five innings, allowing two hits, four walks, and five strikeouts, throwing 96 pitches, of which 56 were strikes.
At the top of the sixth inning, Dylan Moore hit a single with one out. Lehigh Valley catcher Paul McIntosh hit Josh Fleming’s changeup for a two-run home run at 389 feet to center field for an 8-0 lead. It was his second home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 105.1 mph. With two outs, Felix Reyes struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Jackson Rutledge pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the sixth inning. Buffalo had runners on first and second base when Willie MacIver hit a two-run RBI triple to left field. Davis Schneider and Josh Kasevich scored. The Bisons trailed the IronPigs 8-2. Two batters later, Je’Von Ward hit Rutledge’s splitter for a two-run home run at 422 feet to right-center field. The Bisons cut the deficit to 8-4. It was his fourth home run of the season, and the exit velocity off the bat was 106.1 mph. After giving up two more hits, Rutledge was replaced by Kirby Snead.
Snead got Jonatan Clase to line out to third baseman Liover Peguero for the final out of the inning. Rutledge allowed four hits, four runs, two walks, and one strikeout, throwing 30 pitches, of which 14 were strikes. Snead went 1.1 innings, allowing one walk, throwing 11 pitches, of which seven were strikes.
At the top of the eighth inning, Lehigh Valley had the bases loaded when Dylan Carlson grounded into a forceout at second base. Carter Kieboom scored for a 9-4 lead. With two outs, Felix Reyes struck out swinging, and the inning was over.
Zach Pop pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the eighth inning. He struck out one, throwing nine pitches, of which seven were strikes, to get three outs. Seth Johnson pitched for Lehigh Valley in the bottom of the ninth inning. With one out, Buffalo second baseman Carlos Mendoza popped up in foul territory. Christian Cario made the catch before going into Buffalo’s dugout for the second out. A pop-out by Jonatan Clase ended the game. Johnson struck out one, throwing 12 pitches, of which nine were strikes.
The IronPigs defeated the Bisons 9-4. They finished the afternoon with 11 hits, 6 for 13 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. Paul McIntosh went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. The win went to Lehigh Valley starter Bryse Wilson (3-5), and the loss went to Buffalo starter Josh Fleming (2-3).
The IronPigs and Bisons play game four on Friday at 6:05 pm on the MLB App. Chuck King (2-4, 5.63 ERA) will be on the mound for Lehigh Valley. Buffalo has yet to name a starter.
