Homer Happy Herd Drill IronPigs 9-2

(Trenton, NJ) – The Buffalo Bisons used a three-run first inning to set the tone in Wednesday night’s showdown against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. In the second game of their six-game series, Christian Colon, Dilson Herrera, and Kevin Smith all homered to drive in six runs in a 9-2 rout that pushed Buffalo’s record to 35-24. Tying their season-high by reaching 11 games over .500, the Herd improved to 6-2 against the Phillies Triple-A affiliate on a night where Bowden Francis delivered five strong innings for the win in his Blue Jays organizational debut.

After Smith worked a one-out walk in the home half of the first, Alejandro Kirk cranked a 1-0 pitch from Chase Anderson to right for a double and a 1-0 lead. Two pitches later, Colon blasted his ninth home run deep to left to widen the gap to 3-0 as Anderson followed with a walk to Cullen Large and a hard double by Richard Urena. But the Phillies Major League rehabber used a mound visit from pitching coach Aaron Fultz to slow things down, and ended up retiring 10 of the next 11 before Herrera’s fourth inning solo shot made it 4-0.

Francis allowed just one single over his first four innings as he pitched with a comfortable lead. During his final inning in the fifth, he walked number nine batter Jake Elmore before surrendering singles to Dalton Guthrie and Rafael Marchan to load the bases. A single from Mickey Moniak got the IronPigs a run and a passed ball made it 4-2, but Francis (1-0) secured the last two outs to keep the tying runs in scoring position and end his evening.

During their big inning in the sixth, the Bisons loaded the bases at the outset on singles by Urena and Logan Warmoth, plus a walk by Nash Knight. With the bases loaded and one out, Breyvic Valera singled for the second time to score a run and make it a 5-2 ballgame. A wild pitch from ‘Pigs reliever Bryan Mitchell tacked on a run and Smith launched his team-leading 13th homer to left to blow the game wide open and push the lead to 9-2. Mitchell capped off his night by retiring the last eight Herd hitters to complete his three innings of relief.

Buffalo’s bullpen picked up the slack from game one and had Dany Jimenez and Trent Thornton work the sixth and seventh. Patrick Murphy retired all four batters he faced with two strikeouts and a pair of groundouts, and John Axford induced two flyouts to finish the ballgame and give the Bisons a 2-0 series lead.

The Bisons and IronPigs play the third game of their six-game series at Trenton Thunder Ballpark on Thursday, July 15 at 7:00 PM. It’s the first Postgame Fireworks show of the homestand and the first 1,000 fans ages 18 & up will receive a NJ Lottery Instant Lottery Ticket. To purchase tickets, call (609)-394-3300, Opt 4 or visit trentonthunder.com.

#

New Jersey's Baseball Team | Founding Member of the MLB Draft League

The Trenton Thunder have drawn over 10 million fans over 28 years and have won the three major awards that Minor League Baseball teams can win; the Johnson Trophy for the "Nation's Best Franchise" (2005), the Larry MacPhail Trophy for Outstanding Club Promotion (2003) and the Bob Frietas Award for Long-Term Success (1998, given by Baseball America). The team has given back over $7.5 million worth of goods, services, and monetary donations through Trenton Thunder Charities, under the Grand Slam We Care Foundation umbrella. The Thunder can be found online at trentonthunder.com, facebook.com/trentonthunder, twitter.com/trentonthunder, and on youtube.com/AATrentonThunder.