Hunter's Walk-Off Double in 11th Lifts Pigs
Cedric Hunter's walk-off double in the bottom of the 11th lifted the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (38-29) to a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Bisons (35-32) on Friday night at Coca-Cola Park.
In the bottom of the 11th, Cam Perkins got on base with a one-out single and scored from first when Hunter's (3-5, 2 2B, RBI) double got past the outstretched glove of a diving Junior Lake in right field.
The walk-off win is the second straight for the Pigs and the third in four days.
RHP Chad Jenkins (0.1 IP, 2 H, R, ER, K) was tagged with the loss for the Bisons and drops to 3-4 on the year.
RHP Luis Garcia (1.0 IP, 2 K) earned the win for the Pigs with a scoreless inning of relief to improve to 5-1 on the year.
The Pigs grabbed a 1-0 lead with a run in the second as Perkins (2-5, 2 R, SB) led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a single and scored on Logan Moore's sac fly.
Tony Sanchez's solo shot off of IronPigs starter Ben Lively tied things at one apiece for the Bisons in the top of the third.
A three-run fifth opened up a 4-1 lead for the Bisons as Jio Mier's two-run shot proved to be the big blow in the inning while Tony Sanchez plated a run via an RBI groundout.
Lively (n/d) allowed four runs on five hits while walking two and fanning two in 7.1 IP.
In the bottom of the sixth, back-to-back singles from Nick Williams (2-4, 2B, R) and Darin Ruf put two men on before Brock Stassi tied things at four apiece with a three-run shot off of Buffalo starter Chris Leroux. The home run was Stassi's fourth of the season.
Leroux (n/d) gave up the four runs on eight hits while fanning seven over 5.2 IP.
With things tied at four apiece, Buffalo had runners at first and second with two outs in the ninth, but RHP Michael Mariot (2.0 IP, H, BB) got David Adams to line to short and end the threat.
LHP Mario Hollands (0.2 IP) had a scoreless outing in relief for manager Dave Brundage's squad.
Taylor Featherston (2-5) also had a multi-hit game for Lehigh Valley.
The series continues with a day-night doubleheader on Saturday with the two games slated for 12:05 p.m. and 6:35 p.m. LHP James Russell (1-2, 3.77) will be on the bump in game one for the Pigs against Buffalo RHP Drew Hutchison (3-3, 3.12). In game two, a TBD starter gets the ball for the IronPigs against Bisons LHP Scott Diamond (4-6, 3.16).