The Bisons lost the first game of seven straight contests with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Friday, falling 3-1 to their IL North rival.
A solid debut for Wilmer Font, who allowed two earned runs in 6.0 innings, and a ninth inning home run for Matt Dominguez were not enough to clinch the Bisons’ first home win since June 23.
“It was a great start,” Bisons manager Gary Allenson said of Font’s debut. “I don’t know if he had butterflies or not, but I’ll take two runs in six innings every time.”
Font joins the Bisons after spending the last two years with Ottawa of the Canadian-American Association. He previously pitched parts of two seasons with the Texas Rangers.
The righty pitched three scoreless frames to begin his Bisons’ career, before Lehigh Valley took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Max Stassi shot a ball to left field, where the Bisons’ Darrell Ceciliani misplayed the hit, allowing Darin Ruf to score and Stassi to reach second.
Andrew Knapp plated top prospect J.P. Crawford with a RBI single in the sixth. Font benefitted from a beautifully turned inning-ending double play in the frame, keeping the score 2-0 in favor of Lehigh Valley.
Ceciliani redeemed himself in the fifth after his error in the fourth. The leftfielder leaped in front of the outfield wall to take away a leadoff extra-base hit by Darnell Sweeney. In the sixth, the returning Dalton Pompey also made a highlight in the field, corralling a hard-hit rocket in centerfield by Nick Williams. Pompey returned to the Bisons’ lineup after sustaining a concussion on June 18, when he ran into the left-field wall in a road game against the IronPigs.
“Great catch, great jump, it almost looked like he outran the ball, but he took a perfect route after it,” Allenson said of Pompey’s fielding tonight. “It’s nice to have him back. He swung the bat pretty good for not being out there for three weeks.”
After retiring the first eight men to face him, IronPigs’ starter Ben Lively yielded a two-out single to Alexi Casilla in the bottom of the third. He allowed just four more hits, walking one, over 6.0 innings of shutout ball. He improves to 4-2 at Triple-A this year.
“Lively pitched pretty good against us,” Allenson said. “He outpitched us. But we played really good defense tonight, and if you asked me if I’d take three runs in nine innings, I’d take it every time out.”
Casey Kotchman doubled for the Herd’s first extra base hit in the bottom of the fifth, and Domonic Brown followed suit in the next inning, but the Bisons could not capitalize either time. Jesus Montero singled off Lively in the sixth following Brown’s two-base knock. Brown attempted to score, but was thrown out on a strong throw by leftfielder Nick Williams.
Font finished with a line of 6.0 innings, two earned runs, and no strikeouts, in his Bisons’ debut.
“I felt pretty good, working on my fastball and all my pitches,” Font said postgame. “My goal right now is to keep healthy and help the team to win.”
Franklin Morales relieved Font in the seventh, appearing in his seventh rehab assignment with Buffalo. Morales allowed a solo-homer to Darnell Sweeney increasing the IronPigs’ lead to 3-0. Pat Venditte hurled scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth for the Herd.
Colton Murray replaced Lively for the bottom of the seventh, and after a perfect inning, Michael Mariot struck out a pair in the eighth.
Edward Mujica came in for the save for Lehigh Valley in the ninth, when Matt Dominguez ended the Pigs’ shutout bid with his ninth home run of the year. Dominguez ties Jesus Montero for the team lead in homers. The IL’s leader in saves, Mujica earned his 23rd save of the season, as Cam Perkins dove on a ball to right off the bat of David Adams, ending the ballgame.
Scott Diamond looks to even his record at 7-7 tomorrow, as he takes the mound for Buffalo in game two of the series against Lehigh Valley. James Russell is scheduled to start for the IronPigs, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. at Coca-Cola Field.
BISONS NOTES:
In addition to Pompey’s return, pitcher Drew Hutchison and infielder Shane Opitz rejoined the Herd on Friday. Hutchison pitched in two games for Toronto earlier in the week during his second call-up of 2016. Opitz played one game with Buffalo earlier in the season, after a 65-game stint with Double-A New Hampshire. Andy Burns was also recalled to the Blue Jays before Friday’s game… Catcher Tony Sanchez singled in the eighth, increasing his IL-best 22 game on base streak… Matt Dominguez now has reached base in 11 straight games… The Bisons have now lost five straight home games, with their last win at Coca-Cola Field coming on June 23 against Louisville.
from Bisons.com via IFTTT
