News & Notes: Game 106

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Buffalo Bisons
52-53, 3rd(-8.5)
RHP Ramon Ortiz (1-3, 4.62)

Columbus Clippers
66-41,(+9.5)
RHP Yohan Pino (8-5, 5.54)

Friday, July 30, 2010
Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

Radio: WWKB AM 1520,
WGR SportsRadio 550AM,
bisons.com

TODAY'S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the final game of a four-game series from Huntington Park (7:05 p.m.). The Herd is looking for a win tonight to split the series. Buffalo is 3.5 games behind Louisville in the Wild Card standings. After tonight's game, the Bisons will return home for an eight-game homestand.

vs. CLIPPERS: The Bisons are 1-2 against the Clippers this year and need a victory tonight to split the four-game series in Columbus. The Bisons won the season-series last year, 5-3, with three of the wins earned at Huntington Park. Since returning to the IL, the Herd has a 52-46 lead over Columbus.

ONE-TWO PUNCH: INF JUSTIN TURNER and INF LUIS HERNANDEZ are the top two hitters in the International League for July. Turner leads the IL with a .389 average (28-72) during the month to go along with five doubles, five home runs and 10RBI. Hernandez is second with a .375 average (33-88) with nine doubles, three triples and five RBI.

EVANS RETURNS: INF NICK EVANS was promoted to the Bisons from Double-A Binghamton today. Evans hit .294 (102-347) in 88 games with the B-Mets and had 30 doubles, 17 home runs and 55RBI. He currently ranks T4th in the Eastern League in doubles and homers and is 2nd with 47 extra-base hits. In 2009, Evans played 66 games with Buffalo and hit .211 (50-237) with a team-high 10 home runs.

JACOBS MOVES: The Mets have traded Bisons' INF MIKE JACOBS to the Toronto organization. Since joining the Herd on April 25, Jacobs has played in 86 games in Buffalo with a .260 average. Jacobs led the team in doubles (23) and was second on the squad with 15 home runs and 57 RBI.

BURNIN' TURNER: INF JUSTIN TURNER went 4-4 in last night's defeat. Turner had three runs, a double, two home runs, two RBI and a walk. With last night's performance, Turner extends his hit streak to six games. During that stretch, Turner has hit .522 (12-23) with four doubles, two home runs, four RBI and three walks. Turner currently leads the Herd with his .301 average and is second in doubles (21).

METS UPDATE: The Mets (52-49) shutout the Cardinals, 4-0, yesterday afternoon from Citi Field. Tonight, the Mets will host the Diamondbacks for a three-game series (7:10 p.m.). RHP MIKE PELFREY will start on the mound for tonight's game. Pelfrey is 10-5 with a 4.00ERA on the season. After this three-game set, New York will head to Atlanta for the start of a six-game roadtrip.

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Longballs help Clippers set sail

The Buffalo Bisons will hold their annual home run derby this Sunday before Herd takes on the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The Herd and the Clippers got a head start as they treated tonight's game like a home run derby with the two teams combining to hit eight home runs in a 11-8 Columbus victory at Huntington Park.

The eight home runs from the two teams was the most any game involving the Herd has seen this year. The previous record was when Buffalo and Syracuse combined for six back in early July.

The Clippers got the slugfest going early as Michael Brantley and Josh Rodriguez hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning off of Bisons starter Tobi Stoner. Brantley and Rodriguez's consecutive homers was the first time a Bisons opponent left the yard in back-to-back fashion since Iron Pigs Andy Tracy and Michael Taylor accomplished the feat back on August 14 of last season.

Lou Marson added another solo home run in the second inning to stretch the lead to 3-0 in favor of the home squad.

The Herd would get two of those runs back in the top half of the third when Valentino Pascucci had a two-run double to score Lucas Duda and Justin Turner to trim Columbus' lead to one.

In his first game back from the DL, Pascucci looked like he didn't miss a beat. For the night Pascucci went 2-4 and added his 12th home run of the season in the fifth inning.

Matt McBride swatted another home run when he sent one over the left field fence to bring the lead back to two. In his second at-bat in his Triple-A career, McBride accounted for the fourth solo home run that Stoner gave up on the night.

Making his twentieth start for the Herd this season, Stoner (5-9) didn't have his best outing. The right hander tossed four innings while giving up nine hits and allowing seven runs to cross the plate.

Columbus broke the game open in the fifth inning when they scored three runs putting them ahead 7-4. Two runs came by way of McBride's second hit in his Triple-A debut as he had a two-run double with the bases loaded to drive home Rodriguez and Jordan Brown.

While Stoner wasn't having that great of a day on the mound, second baseman Justin Turner had arguably his best day of the season at the plate. Turner went 4-4 tonight, extending his hit streak to six games and adding two home runs. He was also just a triple shy of the cycle. Turner hit solo home runs in the fifth and seventh innings to bring his season total to six.

The Herd attempted to crawl back in the eighth when Ruben Tejada doubled to score Mike Cervenak and a fielding error from Clippers pitcher Shane Lindsay scored Fernando Martinez and Tejada made it a two-run game. Buffalo could not get any more on the board as Lindsay rebounded to get himself out of the inning and put a stop to the comeback attempt.

The Bisons now drop to 52-53 with the defeat while the Clippers sit at 66-41.

BISONS NOTES: The Herd will try to get back on track as they wrap up their eight game road trip tomorrow against the Clippers. Ramon Ortiz will take on a pitcher still to be announced tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. The Bisons will then return home for an eight game, nine day home stand where they will have four-game series' with the Iron Pigs and the Clippers.

News & Notes: Game 105

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Buffalo Bisons
52-52, 3rd(-7.5)
RHP Tobi Stoner (5-8, 5.67)

Columbus Clippers
65-41, 1st(+9.5)
LHP David Huff (5-0, 3.28)

Thursday, July 29, 2010
Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY'S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the third game of a four-game series from Huntington Park (7:05 p.m.). The series is tied a game apiece with the Herd victorious on Tuesday night. Buffalo is 2.5 games behind Louisville in the Wild Card standings. After Friday's game, the Bisons will return home for an eight-game homestand.

vs. CLIPPERS: Tonight's game is the third meeting between Buffalo and Columbus this season with the series split 1-1. The Bisons won the season-series last year, 5-3, with three of the wins earned at Huntington Park. Since returning to the International League, the Herd has a 52-46 lead over Columbus.

TO DUDA LIST: OF LUCAS DUDA went 1-5 with a home run and two RBI in last night's loss to Columbus. Duda has now homered in two straight games and in three of his last five contests. Since joining the Herd on June 14, Duda has hit .309 (43-139) with 11 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs and 37RBI. Duda has reached base safely in 29 of his 37 games played.

HITTING HERNANDEZ: INF LUIS HERNANDEZ has reached base safely in 11 of his last 14 games. During the span, Hernandez is batting .400 (24-60) with 12 runs scored, five doubles, two triples and three RBI. The infielder went 3-5 with a double and a run scored in last night's loss.

CLOSIN IN: OF JESUS FELICIANO went 1-5 in last night's game. The outfielder is now hitting .346 through 67 games this season. His average is just 10 plate appearances shy of qualifying as the International League's top average. At .346, Feliciano would be 31 points higher than Gwinnett's INF Barbaro Canizares. Last season, Feliciano finished 5th in the IL in average (.311) while leading the circuit with 154 base hits.

REGULAR ROTATION: Tonight, RHP TOBI STONER will be making his 20th start for the Herd this season. He's the third Bisons pitcher to reach that plateau this year, following LHP PAT MISCH (21GS) and RHP DILLON GEE (20GS). The Bisons haven't had a pitcher make 20 starts in a season since 2007 and haven't had three pitchers reach the plateau in the same year since 2006 (RHP Rob Bell -21GS, RHP Jake Dittler -24GS, RHP Jeremy Guthrie -20GS).

METS UPDATE: The Mets (52-49) shutout the Cardinals, 4-0, this afternoon from Citi Field. Former Bison RHP R.A. DICKEY allowed just four hits in 8.1 innings of work to earn his seventh win in New York. Former Bisons INF IKE DAVIS launched a mammoth three-run home run in the win. The Mets took two of three games from St. Louis and will now welcome the Diamondbacks for a three-game set.

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Bisons fall in Columbus

The Bisons fell to 1-5 on their eight-game roadtrip to Ohio after a 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday night from Huntington Park.
Buffalo trailed for most of the game, and failed to take full advantage of another home run from Lucas Duda.

Duda's blast, his 13th of the season and second in as many games, came with a runner on board in the top of the fifth inning. The Triple-A rookie now has 37RBI in 37 games with the Herd.

Duda's home run tied the game at three, but the stalemate didn't last long. Columbus plated a run in the bottom of the fifth on Lou Marson's single to retake the lead.

Kyle Smith singled home a run in seventh before Bisons reliever Adam Pettyjohn walked Josh Rodriguez with the bases loaded to push the Clippers' advantage to 6-3.

The Bisons scored a run, but only one, on Russ Adams' sac fly in the eighth inning after loading the bases with only one out.

Meanwhile, the 10th win continues to escape the grasp of Bisons pitchers Dillon Gee and Pat Misch. No Herd hurler has reached 10 victories in a single season since Jeremy Guthrie accomplished the feat in 2005. Misch has been stuck on nine wins for three starts. Gee failed at try number two for the elusive 10th win.

Gee battled through five innings, throwing 102 pitches and surrendering four runs on 10 hits. The righty did add three strikeouts to his season total that now stands at 118. However, Gee was saddled with the loss to fall to 9-7.

BISONS NOTES:Pitcher Bobby Livingston was released on Wednesday to make room for Fernando Nieve's return to Buffalo. Nieve was 3-0 with the Bisons last season and 2-4 with a 6.00ERA in 40 games with the Mets in 2010...Luis Hernandez had three more hits and is now hitting .351 as a Bison...Jose De La Torre had allowed just one run in his last 13 relief appearances before surrendering two runs in 1.1 innings of work.

News & Notes: Game 105

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Buffalo Bisons
52-51, 3rd(-7.5)
RHP Dillon Gee (9-6, 4.82)

Columbus Clippers
64-41(+9.5)
RHP Jeanmar Gomez (7-8, 5.37)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 (7:05 p.m.)
Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY'S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in game two of a four-game series from Huntington Park (7:05 p.m.). The Herd snapped a six-game losing streak yesterday, winning 5-4. Buffalo is now just 1.5 games behind in the Wild Card standings. After Friday, the Bisons will return home for an eight-game homestand against Lehigh Valley and Columbus.

vs. CLIPPERS: Tonight's game marks the second meeting between Buffalo and Columbus this season with the Herd holding the early 1-0 series lead. The Bisons won the season-series last year, 5-3, with three of the wins earned at Huntington Park. Since returning to the International League, the Herd has a 52-45 lead over Columbus.

GOLLY GEE: RHP DILLON GEE leads the Bisons with 115 strikeouts this season, which is also good for third in the International League. With a month still left, the total is already the fourth-most in a single season by a Buffalo hurler and highest in 20 years. The currently record holder, RHP VICENTE PALACIOS fanned 137 batters during the 1990 season. Gee is just 22 strikeouts from the record and has posted 24 strikeouts in his last three starts.

TO DUDA LIST: OF LUCAS DUDA went 2-4 with a home run and three RBI in yesterday's victory. Since joining the Herd on June 14, Duda has hit .313 (42-134) with 11 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 35RBI. Duda has reached base safely in 28 of his 36 games played.

CLOSIN IN: OF JESUS FELICIANO went 2-5 in last night's game. The outfielder is now hitting .349 through 66 games this season. His average is just 12 plate appearances shy of qualifying as the International League's top average. At .349, Feliciano would be 36 points higher than Gwinnett's INF Barbaro Canizares. Last season, Feliciano finished 5th in the IL in average (.311) while leading the circuit with 154 base hits.

ROSTER MOVE: The Bisons have activated RHP FERNANDO NIEVE. The pitcher was outrighted by the Mets after going 2-4 with a 6.00ERA in 40 games (1 start) with New York. To make roster room, LHP BOBBY LIVINGSTON has been released. The southpaw was 3-8 with a 5.34ERA in 22 games and 15 starts with the Bisons.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (51-49) defeated the Cardinals in the opening game of a three-game series last night, 8-2. Former Bison LHP JON NIESE went six innings and allowed only one run on seven hits and two walks for his seventh win. New York and St. Louis are back in action tonight in Citi Field at 7:10 p.m.

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Bisons stop streak in win

The Buffalo Bisons finally got rid of that losing streak they have been dueling with the past six days. The Herd snapped their six-game losing skid when they defeated the Columbus Clippers 5-4 tonight at Huntington Park.

The Bisons jumped out to an early lead thanks to Lucas Duda. Following Jorge Padilla and Mike Jacobs drawing walks from Clippers starting pitcher Eric Berger, Duda sent his 12th homer to center field to give the Herd an early 3-0 lead. Duda who had three RBI in tonight's game now has 35 on the year.

The speedy Clippers used a combination of small-ball and the long-ball to chip away at the Bisons lead. Columbus got one run back in the first by way of a Jordan Brown sacrifice fly that was able to score Ezequiel Carrera.

Jared Goedert then hit his 17th home run of the year when he blasted a solo shot to left field off of Bisons starter Bobby Livingston to make the game 3-2.
Livingston's outing today was short lived as he only tossed four innings while giving up five hits and three runs.

The Clippers would get another run to tie the game at three in the fourth. That tie was short-lived as the Herd put another run on the board in the fifth. After Lucas Duda reached base on a fielding error by Goedert allowing Jesus Feliciano to score, the Bisons regained the lead at 4-3.

Columbus would once again battle back to tie the game in what proved to be a back and forth contest. Jose Costanza and Carrera would reach base on back-to-back bunt singles in the sixth to start the inning. With Josh Rodriguez batting Costanza broke for third and due to a throwing error from catcher Michael Barrett he was able to score to once again knot the game up at four.

The Herd would finally take the lead for good in the seventh playing a little small-ball of their own. Feliciano was able to get his 16th double of the year to lead off the inning to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with no outs. Luis Hernandez then did his job by getting Feliciano over to third on a sacrifice bunt. Padilla then drove Feliciano home from a sacrifice fly to right for his 15th RBI of the year.

Chad Cordero, Brian Bruney and Ryota Igarashi combined to throw three scoreless innings out of the pen to secure the win for the Herd and finally put that losing streak to rest. When the Clippers threatened by getting a lead-off single in the ninth, Igarashi made a diving catch on a pop up bunt from Rodriguez and was able to get the double play by getting the runner out at first. For Igarashi it was his first save of the year as the Herd improved to 52-51 to get back over the .500 mark. The Herd will continue their series with the Clippers tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.

BISONS NOTES: Bisons slugger Mike Hessman got the call up to the majors when the Mets selected his contract yesterday. Hessman got to see some action in the Mets 8-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. In the eighth inning Hessman got the opportunity to pinch hit and popped up to the third baseman in his only at-bat of the evening.

News & Notes: Game 102

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Buffalo Bisons
51-51, 3rd(-7.5)
Bobby Livingston: 3-8, 5.28

Columbus Clippers
64-40, 1st(+10.5)
Eric Berger (NR)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Huntington Park - Columbus, OH

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY'S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons face the Columbus Clippers in the opening game of a four-game series from Huntington Park (7:05 p.m.). The Herd lost its sixth consecutive game yesterday against the Mud Hens, 5-1. After this four-game series, the Bisons will return home for an eight-game homestand against Lehigh Valley and Columbus.

vs. CLIPPERS: Tonight's game marks the first meeting between Buffalo and Columbus this season. The Bisons won the season-series last year, 5-3, with three of the wins earned at Huntington Park. Since returning to the International League, the Herd has a 51-45 lead over Columbus.

TO DUDA LIST: OF LUCAS DUDA went 3-3 with two doubles, a RBI and a walk in yesterday's defeat. Since joining the Herd on June 14, Duda has hit .308 (40-130) with 11 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 32RBI. Duda has reached base safely in 27 of his 35 games played.

LOCKHESS MONSTER MOVES: INF MIKE HESSMAN has been promoted to New York. Since activated from the disabled list, Hessman played in eight games, batting .188 (6-32) with two runs and three doubles. Hessman missed 33 games from June 10- July 19 with a right hand stress fracture. Hessman leaves the Herd as the team leader in home runs (18) and RBI (58).

MORE MOVES: INF VALENTINO PASCUCCI has been activated off the disabled list. Pascucci missed eight games with a left ankle sprain. Seventeen of Pascucci's 30 hits this year have gone for extra-bases, including 11 homers.

NO WALKING: For the 14 time this season, the Bisons pitchers allowed no walks during a game. LHP PAT MISCH pitched seven innings of work with just one earned run and eight strikeouts. His reliever, RHP RYOTA IGARASHI pitched one inning with two earned runs and three punchouts. The last no-walk game was July 20 against Rochester.

JOLTIN' JACOBS: INF MIKE JACOBS has reached base safely in 23 of his last 24 games. During the stretch, Jacobs has hit .295 (28-95) with six doubles, six home runs and 20RBI. The slugger also has 13 walks to only 11 strikeouts during the streak, giving him a .364 on-base percentage.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (50-49) had an off day yesterday. Tonight, New York will host the St. Louis Cardinals for the opening game of a three-game series (7:10 p.m.). Former Bison LHP JON NIESE will start on the mound for the Mets. Niese is 6-4 with a 3.54ERA. Following this three-game series, New York will host Arizona for a three-game series beginning Friday.

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Advance Scout: Columbus Clippers

The Bisons posted a 5-3 mark against the Clippers last year. The teams split a four-game series at Coca-Cola Field (May 21-24) with Columbus taking the first two games and Buffalo winning the last two contests. Last season at Hunington Park, Buffalo dropped the opener before taking the final three games against Columbus last August (Aug. 6-9).

Upcoming Probables for Buffalo at Columbus:
7/27 LHP Bobby Livingston (3-8, 5.28) vs. LHP Eric Berger (0-0,-.--) 7:05 pm
7/28 RHP Dillon Gee (9-6, 4.82) vs. RHP Jeanmar Gomez (7-8, 5.37) 7:05 pm
7/29 RHP Tobi Stoner (5-8, 5.67) vs. LHP David Huff (5-0, 3.28) 7:05 pm
7/30 RHP Ramon Ortiz (1-3, 4.62) vs. RHP Carlos Carasco (9-4, 4.00) 7:05 pm

Clipper Quick Clips
THE LAUNCHING PAD: The Clippers had their Huntington Park homer streak snapped at six games Sunday (homered in 19 of the last 22, 38HR) but added three more dingers Monday night. The PawSox failed to homer, Sunday for just the second game this season in which no long balls were hit at HP (5/31 vs.Louisville; 12 homerless games last season). With 20 games to play at HP, there have been 135 homers hit (130 hit all of last year).

TEAM EFFORT: Columbus leads the IL in hitting at .288 (14 points higher than 2nd place, Durham), but has only three players that qualify for the league batting title. Michael Brantley is currently leading the IL at .315, but is set to drop off the board after tonight's game and Jose Constanza sits in a tie for 3rd (.307) after qualifying last night (Wes Hodges is the other qualifier).

CORD UNPLUGGED: Cord Phelps lost the longest active hitting streak in the IL (also a Clipper best) Monday at 13 games. Phelps has batted .408 (20x49) on the stretch, scoring 12 runs with 2HR and 4RBI. In his last 27 games, he has collected a hit in 25 of them (13 multi-hit games). Between Akron and Columbus, he is hitting .326 (106x325).

JB GETS JOB DONE: Jordan Brown picked up his 28th RBI with the bases loaded last night (15PA, 0HR) with a 2-run base knock. He leads the IL in bases loaded RBI this year (Durham's Dan Johnson is in 2nd with 14 in 14PA, 1HR). Since 2005, only two IL players have had as many as 28RBI with the bases loaded in a season, Durham's Justin Ruggiano in 2009 (17PA, 3HR) and Toeldo's Mike Hessman in 2007 (19PA, 2HR).

2ND GO-AROUND: Since ending their affiliation with the Yankees after the 2006 season, the Clippers have seen 13 players wear a Columbus uniform with two different organizations. Saul Rivera, who pitched in one game for the Clippers in 2007 (Washington), became #13 with his appearance on 4/9. Shelley Duncan, who played in 12 games for the Clippers in 2006 (New York), was the 12th (4/8).

Looking back at Buffalo v Columbus in 2009
May 21: COL 6, BUF 4
The Bisons lose to the Clippers, the new Triple-A affiliate for the Cleveland Indians, 6-4. Sixteen former Bisons players return to Coca-Cola Field as members of Columbus. Javier Valentin hit his second home run of the season in the first inning for Buffalo.

May 22: COL 10, BUF 4
The Clippers jump out to a 9-0 lead after four innings to paste the Bisons, 10-4, at Coca-Cola Field. Jonathon Niese struggles in his return to the Bisons rotation, yielding 12 hits and nine runs in 3.2 innings. Nelson Figueroa rejoins the Bisons from New York and Michael Antonini is transferred to Binghamton before the game.

May 23: BUF 4, COL 3
Javier Valentin's eighth inning home run unties a 3-3 game and gives the Bisons a 4-3 victory over the Clippers. The Herd gets another solid outing from Nelson Figueroa, who strikes out seven in six innings in his first start for the Bisons since May 10.

May 24: BUF 5, COL 3
The Bisons earn a split of their four-game series vs. Columbus thanks to a strong start from Fernando Nieve, who allows two runs in six innings and strikes out four.

August 6: COL 9, BUF 6
A late-innings Bisons rally falls short as Buffalo drops their sixth in a row, 9-6, against Columbus at Huntington Park. The Herd plates four runs in the eighth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer from Nick Evans, cutting the Clippers lead to 7-5. But two runs in the bottom half of the inning thwarts the comeback. Evans now boasts a 14-game road hitting streak.

August 7: BUF 4, COL 3
Three Bisons home runs account for all four runs as the Herd snap their six-game losing skid with a 4-3 victory over Columbus. Mike Lamb, Rene Rivera and Chip Ambres all hit home runs for Buffalo. Nick Evans' 14-game road hit streak ends with an 0-for-3 night.

August 8: BUF 2, COL 1
Adam Pettyjohn strikes out seven and allows just six hits and no walks in eight scoreless innings as the Herd squeak past the Clippers, 2-1. Argenis Reyes and Jesus Feliciano pick up RBI for the Bisons.

August 9: BUF 12, COL 8
Robinson Cancel's three-run homer caps a six-run sixth inning as the Herd out-slugs the Clippers, 12-8, to take the series and win their third straight. Five Bisons have multi-hit nights, including Nick Evans who goes 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the first.

Late inning unravels on Herd

If it wasn't for bad luck the Buffalo Bisons would have had no luck in today's 5-1 loss against the Toledo Mud Hens at Fifth Third Field.

Entering the eighth inning the game was tied at one apiece between the two ball clubs. Riding a strong start from Bisons pitcher Pat Misch the Herd looked to reliever Ryota Igarashi to keep the game knotted up at one.

Today wasn't Igarashi's lucky day as an unusual bounce off of catcher Michael Barrett and an error from second baseman Justin Turner led to four Toledo runs as they completed the sweep of the Herd.

With one out in the eighth, Mud Hens DH Jeff Frazier attempted to check his swing on a 1-2 pitch from Igarashi but was called out by home plate umpire Craig Barron. Frazier stood in the batter's box to argue the call but the pitch from Igarashi ricocheted off of Barrett's shin guards and rolled into the Bisons dugout. Because it tapped into the Herd's dugout, Frazier was awarded first without ever taking a step out of the box.

Following Frazier first baseman Ryan Strieby hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Ruben Tejada which could have resulted in a double play. A twin killing would have negated Frazier's reach on the dropped third strike and gotten the Herd out of the inning with no damage done. Turner unfortunately made an error trying to receive the toss from Tejada allowing everyone to reach base safely.

Center fielder Casper Wells then singled to center to score the go-ahead run in Frazier, giving the Mud Hens a 2-1 lead. Third baseman Max Leon hit a two RBI triple to right, giving the Mud Hens a 4-1 lead. They would add another run in the inning to make the final tally 5-1 in favor of Toledo.

The unlucky eighth inning for the Herd denied Misch his tenth win of the season. While getting the no-decision Misch went seven strong innings, giving up one run and six hits. Misch also struck out eight which is a new season high for the left hander.

The loss for the Herd is their sixth straight and they are one away from matching their longest losing streak of the season when they dropped seven in a row back in June. The Herd's record is now at .500 at 51-51. Buffalo is at the .500 mark for the first time since June 28th when they were 39-39 after a 13-12 loss to Charlotte.

BISONS NOTES: The Herd will look to end their losing streak when they start a four-game series with the Columbus Clippers tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. Bobby Livingston (3-8, 5.28 ERA) will try to end the losing skid by taking on a pitcher still to be named as slated starter Josh Tomlin was called up to the Indians.

News & Notes: Game 101

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Buffalo Bisons
51-49, 3rd(-5.5)
RHP Ramon Ortiz (1-2, 5.34)

Toledo Mud Hens
50-51, 4th(-11.5)
RHP Alfredo Figero (8-6, 4.18)

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Fifth Third Field - Toledo, OH

Radio: WWKB AM 1520, bisons.com

TODAY'S GAME: Tonight, the Bisons face the Toledo Mud Hens in the third game of a four-game series from Fifth Third Field (6:30 p.m.). The Hens swept a pair of games from the Herd yesterday, including the completion of the rain-suspended game from Friday night. After tomorrow's game, the Bisons will travel to Columbus for a four-game series with the Clippers.

vs. MUD HENS: The Bisons are 2-4 against the Mud Hens this season. The teams split a series at Coca-Cola Field, May 27-30. The Bisons are winless in seven straight games at Fifth Third Field, including a four-game sweep by the Mud Hens last season. Buffalo's last win in Toledo was May 28, 2008.

SOLID STARTER: RHP RAMON ORTIZ will start for the Bisons tonight. The veteran is coming off his best outing with the Herd as he allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings on July 20 in Rochester. In that outing, Ortiz struck out a season-high eight and didn't walk a batter as the Bisons won 1-0. Ortiz has allowed one run or fewer in three of his last four starts.

JOLTIN' JACOBS: INF MIKE JACOBS drove in a run in each of last night's games. The slugger now has 56RBI on the season, just two behind INF MIKE HESSMAN for the team lead. In 19 games this month, Jacobs has hit .293 (22-75) with four doubles, six home runs and 18RBI.

GETTING IGGY WITH IT: RHP RYOTA IGARASHI has made four consecutive scoreless outings of the Bisons bullpen. Overall, the reliever has allowed runs in just one of seven outings with the Bisons, and that was on July 16 when he was asked to throw a second inning. Igarashi has worked a scoreless inning in each of his other six appearances.

HESSMAN RETURNS: INF MIKE HESSMAN combined to go 2-8 with a double and a run scored in his much anticipated return to Fifth Third Field. Hessman spent the last five seasons in Toledo and hit 140 homers in 591 games. The Mud Hens' All-Time Home Run King has hit .280 (7-25) with three home runs and four RBI in his first six games this season against his former team.

METS UPDATE: The Mets (50-48) lost in 13 innings to the Dodgers yesterday by a 3-2 score. OF JASON BAY had two more hits and scored one of New York's two runs. The Mets bullpen delivered seven scoreless innings before INF James Loney hit a walk-off home run off LHP OLIVER PEREZ with one out in the 13th. The Mets take on the Dodgers again this afternoon at 4:10 p.m.

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