Bisons ride late homers past Lehigh Valley, 9-7 for second straight win

Buffalo closed the weekend the same way it had opened it, with power. RJ Schreck’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh lifted the Bisons past Lehigh Valley 9-7 on Saturday night at Coca-Cola Park, finishing a game that swung from early control to late tension before Buffalo’s lineup delivered the final punch.

The win gave Buffalo back-to-back victories over the IronPigs and extended a three-game offensive surge in the series. The Bisons had already beaten Lehigh Valley 11-1 on Wednesday and 13-5 on Thursday, then followed with another night in which the bats carried the outcome. After Saturday’s result, Buffalo improved to 18-20 while Lehigh Valley fell to 19-19.

Buffalo built a 6-0 lead, starting with two bases-loaded walks in the second inning before Riley Tirotta broke the game open with a three-run homer in the third. Josh Kasevich added an RBI single in that inning, and for a while the Bisons looked like they might cruise through the rest of the night.

Lehigh Valley had other ideas. The IronPigs clawed all the way back, erased the early deficit and took a 7-6 lead after five innings, turning what had been a comfortable Buffalo advantage into a game that felt one big swing away from changing again. Josh Rivera provided that swing for the Bisons in the sixth, tying the game 7-7 with a solo homer and settling the tone just long enough for Schreck to finish the job in the seventh.

Schreck’s blast was his biggest hit of the week against Lehigh Valley, giving him 12 RBIs against the IronPigs during the series. It also kept Buffalo’s late-game formula intact. In Triple-A, where lineups can change quickly and every inning can expose a bullpen, the ability to answer a rally with one more homer is often the difference on the road.

CJ Van Eyk gave Buffalo an early foundation with 3 2/3 innings and a season-high seven strikeouts before handing the game to the bullpen. Yariel Rodriguez worked two scoreless relief innings, and Tanner Andrews secured his third save to lock down the finish. Alan Rangel took the loss for Lehigh Valley.

The teams were scheduled to complete the six-game series Sunday afternoon, with Buffalo carrying the momentum of a lineup that has turned the middle and late innings into its best window.