Bisons unable to overcome early Lehigh Valley offense in 6-2 loss

ALLENTOWN, PA — The Buffalo Bisons dropped their first game of the series to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Thursday night, losing 6-2 from Coca-Cola Park.

Lehigh jumped on Bisons’ starter Nick Allgeyer right from the get-go, with the first two IronPig hitters recording singles before Darick Hall cashed everybody in with a three-run homer. The home run was Hall’s 11th of the season, trailing Memphis second baseman Nolan Gorman’s 13 in the International League rankings.

Allgeyer did battle back to strike out the side, ultimately recording five K’s in 4.1 innings of work. The southpaw was charged with five runs, though just three earned, off six hits and three walks.

The bottom of the Bisons order made some noise in the third, with Stevie Berman and Logan Warmoth reaching base before doubles from Eric Stamets and leadoff man Nathan Lukes put the Herd on the board. On the night, the bottom third of the Bison order went 3-8 with three walks.

Lehigh tacked on another pair of runs in the fifth off a two-out, bases loaded single by Nick Maton, and one more in the sixth off an RBI single by Austin Wynns, before the seventh inning saw both Lukes and Bisons manager Casey Candaele ejected after disagreeing with a called third strike call.

The IronPigs used seven pitchers in this one with none going more than two innings, but aside from Cristopher Sánchez, who gave up the damage in the third, the Bisons mustered just three hits off the rest.

The Bisons and IronPigs will continue their series tomorrow night with Shaun Anderson lined up against Michael Mariot. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. EST.