Buffalo Bisons vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs

The game was scoreless through two innings before Keys broke it open in the third. With two outs and runners aboard, the Bisons' slugger launched a three-run homer to centre field, giving Buffalo a 3-0 lead.

Keys struck again in the fifth, crushing a two-run shot to right field to extend the lead to 5-0. It was his second multi-home run game of the season — the previous coming against the Iowa Cubs on June 24 — and gave him five RBIs on the night.

Buffalo put the game out of reach in the sixth. Jay Harry drilled an RBI single to left, scoring William Simoneit from second, before Yohendrick Piñango snuck a two-run single through the left side to cap the scoring at 8-0.

Lehigh Valley managed just three hits — singles from Rafael Marchan, Kameron Misner and Matt Kemp — and never advanced a runner past second base.

Keys' two-out, three-run homer in the third inning flipped a tight scoreless duel into a 3-0 Buffalo lead. It was the kind of hit that had eluded the Bisons in earlier games of the series — Buffalo had lost four of the first five meetings — and it allowed Gallardo to pitch with a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

Sean Keys (Buffalo Bisons) — 2-for-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI. His first multi-HR game at Sahlen Field this season. Both homers came with two strikes, per Statcast data. Player of the Match.

Richard Gallardo (Buffalo Bisons) — W, 1-3. 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K. The 23-year-old right-hander retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced and needed only 76 pitches across his outing.

Peyton Williams (Buffalo Bisons) — 3-for-4, 2B, R. The Bisons' first baseman accounted for three of Buffalo's 13 hits and scored once.

Brian Keller (Lehigh Valley IronPigs) — L, 1-4. 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 K. Keller kept the Bisons quiet for two innings before Keys' third-inning blast derailed his outing.

Buffalo out-hit Lehigh Valley 13-3, the widest hits margin of any game in this six-game set. The Bisons' 13 hits marked their highest single-game total since 14 against Syracuse on August 8. Gallardo's one-hit outing was his best start of the season by opponent batting average (.056). The IronPigs, who had averaged 6.4 runs per game during their five-game win streak, were held scoreless for only the second time in their last 25 games. Buffalo committed two errors but neither led to a run.

The Bisons improved to 26-23 in the second half (61-63 overall), pulling within one game of Lehigh Valley’s second-half mark (25-23, 60-63 overall). The IronPigs' five-game winning streak — a season high — came to an end. Lehigh Valley leads the six-game series 3-2 with one game remaining on Saturday, August 22, at 6:35 PM ET. CJ Van Eyk is scheduled to start for Buffalo against Alan Rangel for the IronPigs.

Dominant pitching from Gallardo and explosive power from Keys turned what could have been a tight bullpen game into a laugher. The Bisons’ ability to punish mistakes with two-out damage — all three of Keys’ RBIs came with two outs — was the difference. For the IronPigs, the formula that carried them through five straight wins — timely hitting and early leads — vanished entirely against Buffalo’s best pitching performance of the home stand.