IronPigs back in first-place tie after win over Buffalo Bisons

Aramis Garcia stayed hot and Darick Hall ended a homerless streak to help the IronPigs move back into a first-place tie with a 5-4 win Saturday night over the Buffalo Bisons in front of a capacity crowd of 10,100.

Garcia’s two-run double in the third inning gave him 16 RBIs in his last nine games.

Hall’s solo homer in the fifth was his first in his last 21 games, a span of 76 plate appearances. He didn’t have an extra-base hit in that span before his fourth of the year for Lehigh Valley. It came against Buffalo’s Jimmy Robbins, who made his Triple-A debut.

Where are they now?

LHP Bailey Falter, who was traded Aug. 1 to the Pirates, was promoted to the big-league club. He made his Pittsburgh debut Saturday night in Milwaukee, allowing one run on six hits and a walk in four innings plus two batters.

Catcher Jorge Alfaro is a free agent for the fourth time in the last eight months. He opted for free agency after being designated for assignment and clearing waivers instead of an outright to Worcester, Boston’s Triple-A affiliate.

The former Phillie was batting .320 in 43 games with the WooSox. He batted .118 in eight games with the Red Sox after hitting .161 in 10 games for the Rockies.

Alfaro spent last year with the Padres after three seasons with the Marlins. He was with the Phillies in 2017-18.

Ouch

Former IronPigs catcher Tyler Heineman took a foul ball off the bat of Scott Kingery on the left knee in the bottom of the seventh. He left the game after writhing in pain and lying on the ground for more than a minute. Kingery’s foul ball hit flush on the top of Heineman’s left shin guard.

Heineman appeared in 20 games in 2021 for the IronPigs. He then moved on to the Pirates and Blue Jays organizations.

How they scored

Bottom 2: Scott Kingery walked with one out and took third on Rafael Marchan’s ground-rule double. Both scored on Jim Haley’s two-out single to right. IronPigs 2-0.

Bottom 3: Weston Wilson singled and Kody Clemens walked to lead off. Both scored on Aramis Garcia’s double. IronPigs 4-0.

Bottom 5: Hall hit a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right field for a solo home run with one out. IronPigs 5-0.

Top 6: Nathan Lukes and Rafael Lantigua hit consecutive doubles to start the inning. Spencer Horwitz walked. Two outs later, Luis De Los Santos singled to score Lantigua. Horwitz was thrown out by Scott Kingery trying to go to third base. IronPigs 5-2.

Top 8: Lantigua walked with one out, took third on Horwitz’s bloop single and scored on Orelvis Martinez’s sacrifice fly to left. IronPigs 5-3.

Top 9: Luis De Los Santos homered on a full-count pitch to lead off. IronPigs 5-4.

Up next

RHP Shaun Anderson (0-0, 5.00) vs. Buffalo TBA in a 1:35 p.m. start in the series finale and the last of a 12-game homestand for Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs are 6-5 on the homestand entering Sunday. Anderson is making his fourth start with Lehigh Valley after leaving Korea to sign with the Phillies.

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com