Bisons rally late, top Iowa 11-10 in extra innings

Buffalo beat Iowa 11-10 in extra innings at Principal Park Tuesday evening, after Carlos Mendoza’s two-run homer tied it in the ninth and the Bisons pushed ahead for good in the 10th. The win came through four Buffalo home runs and a late defensive play from Mendoza.

The first big swing belonged to Jay Harry, who opened Buffalo’s power surge with a three-run homer in the fifth to turn a 1-1 game into a 4-1 lead. Sean Keys had put the Bisons on the board in the first with a forceout that scored Harry, but Iowa answered quickly through BJ Murray’s solo shot in the bottom of the first. The Cubs then flipped the game in the sixth, when Owen Miller blasted a grand slam and Moises Ballesteros followed with an RBI double to push Iowa in front 7-4.

Buffalo kept punching back. Je’Von Ward’s solo homer cut into the gap in the seventh, and Harry added an RBI single later in the inning to pull the Bisons within one. Iowa stretched the lead again on a McCormick RBI single, leaving Buffalo down 8-6.

Instead, the ninth inning became the hinge point. Mendoza, a 26-year-old second baseman from Miami who entered with a .218/.374/.298 line, delivered the defensive play Buffalo needed before coming back to the plate and tying the game with a two-run homer. The blast scored Josh Rivera and forced Iowa to survive one more inning after Buffalo had erased a two-run deficit.

The 10th finished the job. Keys doubled in Clase, Charles McAdoo followed with an RBI double to score Keys, and Willie MacIver capped the burst with a solo homer that made it 11-8. Iowa made one last push with RBI singles from Murray and Ballesteros, but Buffalo held on to leave Des Moines with the win. The Bisons moved to 35-40, while Iowa fell to 30-42.