STAFF REPORTS
After the Bisons walked it off in the first game of the Independence Eve doubleheader on Wednesday night at Sahlen Field, the Herd came up short in the latter of the two games, losing 6-4 at Sahlen Field.
Like the first matchup of the evening, the second was all about collecting base hits in all the right moments. This was the case for both teams in the back and forth contest.
The IronPigs opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Adam Haseley hit a two-run home run to left. Buffalo answered right back in the bottom half of the frame though to tie the game at two. Socrates Brito led off with a beautifully placed bunt and later stole second base. Billy McKinneyblasted a stand-up triple to plate Brito and Patrick Kivlehan followed suit with a double to center.
Bo Bichette gave Buffalo the brief lead in the next inning with a single to right to plate Roemon Fields. Bichette, who finished the day going 3-for-8 with two runs driven in, brought in both runs in clutch ways. In addition to the run in the fifth, the shortstop brought home the tying run in the bottom of the seventh that eventually led to Buffalo’s 5-4 walkoff victory in game one.
The back and forth continued when the IronPigs retook the lead in the sixth and ultimately never looked back. They finished the frame plating three runs with two coming off the bat of Austin Listi‘s one-out double and added an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
While they weren’t able to tie it like the first game, the Bisons did manage to add a fourth run in the sixth to keep the game close. Patrick Kivlehan hit a towering shot that hit the top of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s stage in the Centerfield Pavilion. Kivlehan finished the doubleheader with four hits in six at-bats, three runs, two home runs, three runs batted in and a walk.
On the mound for Buffalo, Tayler Saucedo shutdown Lehigh Valley in the start. Despite throwing just three innings in the no-decision, the southpaw yielded just one baserunner. Saucedo, who has now made three straight starts, has thrown 11.2 consecutive scoreless innings in that span while allowing just seven hits and two walks and fanning seven batters.