Left-hander Nick Allgeyer carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and Josh Palacios gave him all the runs he would need with a two-run homer in the first as the Buffalo Bisons held off the Iowa Cubs, 3-2, Tuesday in their season opener in Sahlen Field.
An announced crowd of 10,145 attended the game on a sun-splashed afternoon with a first-pitch temperature of 57 degrees -- the warmest for a home opener since 2010. It was Buffalo's first true home opener since April 4, 2019. The Bisons did not play here last season until August while spending much of the summer in Trenton, N.J., while the parent Toronto Blue Jays were playing in Buffalo.
In the first regular-season game at any level of professional baseball in 2022, Allgeyer was virtually untouchable for most of his stint. He retired the first 13 batters he faced -- and not a single ball left the infield -- before issuing a walk to Iowa's Jerad Young with one out in the fifth. He lost his no-hitter with one out in the sixth on a clean single to left by No. 9 hitter Trent Giambrone.
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Allgeyer left the game after six shutout innings, allowing only the one hit and one walk. He struck out six and threw 79 pitches (49 strikes).
Vinny Capra led off the Buffalo first with a walk and, one out later, Palacios roped a 1-1 pitch from Iowa starter Cory Abbott over the wall in deep right-center to give the Herd an early 2-0 lead. Palacios, considered a good depth outfield prospect for the parent Toronto Blue Jays, did not homer in 32 games last year over four levels of the Toronto chain -- including 13 in the big leagues and 16 with the Bisons. He missed most of the season with a pair of hand injuries.
Josh Palacios now leads all of organized baseball in home runs!!! #Bisons #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/10ND9hAp1W
— Buffalo Bisons🦬 (@BuffaloBisons) April 5, 2022
Buffalo took a 3-0 lead in the fifth on a two-out RBI double to right-center by designated hitter L.J. Talley, making his Triple-A debut after spending last year with Double-A New Hampshire. Iowa scratched out a pair of runs in the seventh of Buffalo reliever Joe Biagini but didn't score again. Kyle Johnson pitched the ninth to earn the save, leaving the tying run at third.
The Bisons are 22-12 in Sahlen Field openers since the ballpark opened in 1988. Ceremonial first pitches were thrown before the game by Mayor Byron W. Brown and Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Young, a 100-RBI man for the Bisons' 2004 International League champions.
Tuesday's game was the Bisons' first against Iowa since Sept. 10, 1997, the clinching game of the American Association championship series. Buffalo won that one, 5-4, in a 10-inning thriller in Des Moines to win its first league title since 1961
The I-Cubs were in the Pacific Coast League from 1998-2019 until rejoining the International League grouping of teams last season. They were also the opponent for one other Buffalo home opener, a 3-1 Iowa victory on April 16, 1990.
The teams are playing a six-game series to open the season and the next five games are all part of Kids Week. Children 14 and under can get tickets for $5 for the games against the Cubs at 6:05 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and at 1:05 on Saturday and Sunday.
