BUFFALO, NY – Josh Stephan struck out seven batters as the Buffalo Bisons struggled to drive in runs in a 2-1 loss to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Wednesday afternoon at Sahlen Field. Stephan allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in six innings pitched.
William Simoneit was the lone Bison with a multi-hit game. Simoneit singled in the bottom of the second and seventh innings.
Buffalo’s pitching staff struck out 12 batters in the contest and sent down Lehigh Valley in back-to-back innings twice. Outside of Stephan picking up seven of those strikeouts, Chad Dallas struck out three in the ninth.
After going down in order in the first two innings, the IronPigs took the lead in the top of the third. Tommy Pham crushed a two-run double to right field.
The Bisons would cut the lead in half in the seventh. Yohendrick Piñango hit a sac-fly to left field, driving in Ismael Munguia to only give Lehigh Valley a 2-1 advantage.
In the eighth inning, Buffalo managed to force three walks to load the bases with zero outs on the board. However, three straight strikeouts from Kirby Snead prevented the Bisons from tying the game.
Buffalo kept its hopes alive in the ninth, after Dallas picked up the last two strikeouts with the bases loaded to keep the deficit at one. However, three straight ground outs in the bottom half of the inning sealed the Bisons’ fate.
Buffalo and the IronPigs are scheduled for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch on Thursday at Sahlen Field. Lehigh Valley leads the series 2-0. John Klein will get the start on the bump for the Bisons. Pregame coverage on The Bet 1520 AM, the Audacy app, and Bisons.com begins broadcast coverage at 6:15 p.m.