ALLENTOWN, PA – The Buffalo Bisons were defeated by the Lehigh Valley IronPigs for the second time in three games on Thursday night at Coca-Cola Park. The Herd simply couldn’t solve IronPigs starter Drew Hutchinson with any regularity in the 7-1 loss.
The Bisons and IronPigs are now tied atop the International League standings with identical 18-11 second half records heading into the final three games of their six-game series.
Lehigh Valley would waste no time getting on the board first as Kody Clemens hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first to quickly give the IronPigs a 1-0 lead.
The Bisons would respond shortly after as Addison Barger tied the game with his sixth home run of the season in the top of the 3rd with one out.
The IronPigs would waste no time grabbing the lead back, however, as Cal Stevenson hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the third, his second in three games to give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 advantage.
Lehigh Valley would then add onto its lead in the bottom of the 5th. Jordan Qsar was hit by a pitch, then advanced on a fielding error by Junior Fernandez, then got to third as a bunt single by Stevenson loaded the bases with no outs. Weston Wilson would eventually deliver a two-RBI single to extend the IronPIgs lead to 4-1. This would give Wilson 69 RBI’s for the season.
Lehigh Valley would add onto its lead once again in the bottom of the 7th. Qsar would reach on a walk, then advanced to third on a single by Jim Haley. Stevenson would then come through for the IronPigs yet again with a sac fly to drive in Qsar. After an error on a pickoff attempt, Clemens would stay red-hot at the plate with his second home run of the game, third of the series and sixth of the season. Lehigh Valley held a convincing 7-1 lead at this point, which is what the final score was.
Despite having the same number of hits as the IronPigs (6-6), the Bisons couldn’t get much done against Hutchinson. Hutchinson went 8.0 innings with the only allowed run coming on the Barger home run. He also had three strikeouts against two walks. Luis F. Ortiz would then retire three of four batters in the bottom of the 9th to finish what Hutchinson started.
On a positive note for Buffalo, it was a solid start for Andrew Bash. He started the bullpen game with 4.0 innings of two-run ball with the only two runs coming on home runs. He also had four strikeouts against one walk. Yosver Zulueta and Gabe Klobostis also were clean in their efforts, combining for 1.2 innings of hitless ball with no runs allowed.
Six of nine batters also recorded a hit for the Bisons.
The two teams will meet back at Coca-Cola Park for the fourth game of their six-game series on Friday night. The IronPigs will send RHP Nick Nelson (3-2, 4.56) to the mound while the Bisons starter is not known at this time. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET.
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