Bisons open series with a win in Lehigh Valley on Tuesday

ALLENTOWN, PA – The Buffalo Bisons used early offense and timely pitching from the bullpen to hold off the Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7-5 on Tuesday afternoon at Coca-Cola Park.

In the top of the first inning, the Bisons took an early 2-0 lead thanks to a Gabriel Cancel two-run shot over the left-center field wall. Cancel’s 6th home run of the season also scored Phil Clarke. The baseball jumped off Cancel’s bat at 100 MPH and traveled 375 feet.

The Bisons built upon their lead in the top of the second inning. Max McDowell hit a line-drive solo homer to left field with one down in the inning. His 4th home run of the season extended Buffalo’s lead to 3-0 over the IronPigs.

Three batters later, the Bisons expanded their lead as Addison Barger’s 9th home run of the season gave them a 5-0 advantage. Miguel Hiraldo also scored on the two-run long ball.

The Bisons would push their lead to 6-0 in the top of the third inning as a sharply hit line drive by Riley Tirotta scored Cancel. Tirotta’s RBI single was the third straight hit given up by the IronPigs in the top half of the inning. Cancel started the inning by picking up a double followed by a Will Robertson single.

After an injury delay, the Bisons would tack on another run. Robertson crossed the plate on a McDowell ground out, allowing the Bisons to take a 7-0 lead over the IronPigs.

In the bottom of the third inning, the IronPigs cut into the Bisons’ lead as Weston Wilson put Lehigh Valley on the board. The two-run home run, his 18th of the season, brought the IronPigs within five runs as the Bisons still led 7-2.

Lehigh Valley got another run back in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Scott Kingery hit a sacrifice fly that scored Carlos De La Cruz from third. Kingery’s 39th RBI of the season brought the score to within four, making it 7-3 in favor of Buffalo.

The IronPigs made it a three-run game in the bottom of the fifth inning as Darick Hall doubled to trim the Buffalo lead to 7-4. Then, De La Cruz picked up an RBI as he grounded out to Hiraldo at second base. The ground out allowed Weston Wilson to score from the third. This brought Lehigh Valley within a pair of runs as Buffalo still led 7-5.

Eric Pardinho replaced Yerry Rodríguez with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The right hander pitched extremely well in the relief, going 1.1 innings and striking out all four batters he faced. Pardinho would be credited with his first career Triple-A victory for his efforts.

Mason Fluharty pitched the final 1.1 innings striking out three IronPigs batters to nail down the victory for the Bisons.

Before the bottom of the eighth inning, Erik Swanson was removed from the game before throwing an official pitch. He was subsequently replaced by Luis Quinones.

The Bisons and IronPigs are set to play the second game of their six-game series on Wednesday evening at 7:05 p.m.