IL Buffalo Bisons

Bisons Defeat Lehigh Valley 5-2 to Extend Win Streak to Five Games

Published on July 2, 2021 under International League (IL)
Buffalo Bisons News Release


The Buffalo Bisons extended their win streak to five games with a 5-2 win in game one of what was supposed to be a doubleheader against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Friday night at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. Game two was suspended with one out in the top of the fifth inning, and the Herd leading Lehigh Valley 4-1.

Kevin Smith played a huge part in the Herd's game one win. Leading off the bottom of the 5th, with the game tied at two, Smith hit a standup triple off of the right center field wall. Smith's triple put the club in a prime position to take the lead. Rowdy Tellez did just that for the Bisons, hitting a single to right field to take a 3-2 lead over the IronPigs.

Buffalo wasn't satisfied with a one-run lead and added insurance soon after. Danny Jansen came to the plate next for the Herd and continued the hitting streak with a single to left field. Jansen's single moved Tellez to third and he later scored after a sacrifice fly from Tyler White.

Rowdy Tellez gave the Bisons one last insurance run, hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th to give Buffalo a 5-2 lead. Tellez has now hit two home runs in his last three games with the club.

The Herd may have edged out Lehigh Valley late in the game, but the two teams were engaged in a back and forth battle throughout the early portion of the game.

The IronPigs tested Connor Overton early in the ball game, scoring one run to take an early lead in the top of the 1st. Overton battled back at Lehigh, striking out the final two batters of the inning to strand a runner in scoring position.

The Herd's offense quickly responded behind the momentum that Overton ended the inning with. Breyvic Valera led off for the Bisons, earning first base with a walk. Kevin Smith and Rowdy Tellez soon followed, both earning walks to load the bases for Buffalo. Danny Jansen got the job done, scoring Valera from third base, but did so while hitting into a double play, taking the wind out of the sails for the Herd's offense. Regardless, the Bisons tied the game at one, eliminating Lehigh's lead.

Overton was tested yet again in the top of the 2nd, allowing a lead-off single and hitting the next batter with a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. The IronPigs decided to play small ball, trading an out via sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third base. Dalton Guthrie took advantage of the opportunity, singling to right field to score Darick Hall and giving Lehigh Valley a 2-1 lead.

Overton was able to work his way out of the jam yet again, getting Ruben Tejada to fly out to right field, and Lehigh decided to test the arm of Richard Urena. Urena set up underneath the fly ball, caught it, and then fired the ball home just in time to get Jake Elmore for the final out of the inning.

Just when it seemed the Bisons would make no noise in the bottom of the second inning, the club worked three walks in a row with two outs to load the bases. Kevin Smith, the club's leader in runs batted in, stepped to the plate next for the Herd and hit an infield single to tie the game at two runs apiece.

After being tested early, Overton found his command and settled in for the Bisons. The right-hander allowed two earned runs in the first two innings but held the IronPigs scoreless through his remaining three innings on the mound, paving the way for a Buffalo win. Overton's final stat line was five innings on the mound, two earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.

The Bisons and IronPigs got right back to work after the game three victory with first year Triple-A starter Zach Logue controlling the pace for Buffalo prior to the game's suspension in the top of the fifth inning.

The lefty phenom showed veteran level calm early inducing an infield popup and a strikeout to escape the second inning after allowing a single, double and walk to load the bases with one out.

Logue began to gather momentum in the third retiring nine hitters in a row from the end of the second to the beginning of the fifth. He began finding the strike zone early in counts with his fastball and finishing at-bats with an effective changeup.

The Buffalo offense capitalized on their game one success and put up four over the first two innings to back Logue's impressive start.

Alejandro Kirk got the game two party started with a first inning long-ball hit into the left field corner, the 11th consecutive game the Bisons have homered in.

Tyler White and Dilson Herrera found a spot they both liked in the second inning hitting near identical RBI doubles off of the base of the wall in center field. Buffalo collected three doubles and three runs in inning including a Breyvic Valera sacrifice fly that brought Herrera home.

The rain began to pour in the fifth and put a damper on Logue's shutout bid. As he attempted to dry the baseball, he surrendered a pair of doubles to the IronPigs that cut into Buffalo's lead and make the score to 4-1 before the umpires suspended the game due to inclement weather. The southpaw finished allowing one run on five hits over 4.2 innings of work and striking out three.

The IronPigs and Bisons will continue to battle over the holiday weekend with game four set to restart with two outs in the top of the fifth inning Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Immediately following the two teams will play a seven-inning second game as part of the overall six-game series in Trenton.

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International League Stories from July 2, 2021


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